Geldof honored by hometown of Dublin

A frequent campaigner alongside fellow Irish rocker Bono, Bob Geldof organized the landmark Live Aid concert in aid of famine relief in Ethiopia in 1985 and repeated the feat with the Live 8 concert last year in Scotland.

Bob Geldof, the singer who has won international acclaim for humanitarian efforts, received the "freedom of the city" Sunday from his hometown _ an honor that permits him the rarely exercised right to graze sheep in the city's central park.

"It is raining and it's cold, but it is a beautiful day," Geldof said outside the official residence of Dublin's lord mayor, Catherine Byrne, where he accepted a Waterford crystal globe in recognition of his two decades of fundraising for the poor.

Geldof, a frequent campaigner alongside fellow Irish rocker Bono, organized the landmark Live Aid concert in aid of famine relief in Ethiopia in 1985 and repeated the feat with the Live 8 concert last year in Scotland.

He was joined Sunday by his 91-year-old father, Bob Geldof Sr., and three of his daughters.

Also receiving "freedom of the city" honors Sunday was Ronnie Delaney, who won gold for Ireland in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Past recipients include John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II.