By Victoria O’Hara

IT was a beautiful day for music lovers on Saturday, as Ireland’s top group U2 rocked Slane.

Around 80,000 revellers packed the sun-filled venue, to witness the veteran rock band perform their first gig at the annual rock event in 20 years.

Fans from as far away as America and Slovenia travelled to see U2 play at the open-air Mount Charles estate in Co Meath. Traffic was brought to a standstill, while many fans made their way there via a fleet of buses, which transferred the bulk of the crowd in a day-long service from Dublin.

Lead singer Bono went ahead with the concert just a day after his father’s funeral. His father, Bob Hewson, died from cancer last Tuesday in Dublin. During Saturday’s performance, Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, dedicated the song Kite to him.

“This is a song I thought I wrote for my kids – but I know now, this is a song my old man wrote for myself and my brother,” he told the crowd.

The music extravaganza attracted a number of stars to Co Meath. Formula One drivers Eddie Irvine and David Coulthard attended, as well as Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia and Ireland’s Samantha Mumba.

Special arrangements were made for the concert, with gardai mounting the largest security operation planned for an entertainment event in the Republic. It is believed 800 officers were involved.

Twelve people were arrested throughout the day and 142 drug seizures were made.

Gardai turned away 100 fans for holding forged tickets and river patrols were also on duty at the Boyne, with officers blocking fans from getting close to the river’s banks.

Despite the arrests, gardai said they were pleased with the outcome of the day.

Chief Superintendent Michael Finnigan said: “Apart from a few arrests, the majority of fans are in good form and have behaved themselves.”

Thousands of dedicated fans waited eight hours to see the Dublin rockers take to the stage.

Coldplay took to the stage at 4.30pm and warmed up eager fans with their own rendition of U2’s number one single, Beautiful Day.

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers also entertained the crowd by opening their set with the national anthem, Amhran na bhFiann.

Singer/songwriter Kelis and Dublin-based band JJ72 also performed during the 10-hour party.

U2 will have to do it all over again when they return to Slane next week to play a second sell-out concert at the Co Meath venue.