A telex sent from an Irish official based in Boston in April 1987, stating that a limit of ten complimentary tickets per U2 show in America "puts us in an embarrassing situation" reveals the level of interest in the band's massively successful Joshua Tree tour there.
Newly released files at the National Archive show that officials were left embarrassed after an arrangement they thought they had with U2 for free tickets for their 1987 Joshua Tree tour in the United States were more restricted than they had hoped, the files reveal.
The rising stardom of the band across America was seen as a golden opportunity for promoting Ireland by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the band was in agreement about the mutual benefits of the connections.
Irish diplomats were keen to get in on the action and documents detailing a lunch meeting hosted by U2's Paul McGuinness in February 1987 with three officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs make for intriguing reading.
The meeting was described in documents as being "very useful" and held to "discuss possible mutual cooperation towards the benefit of Ireland's image abroad".
The minutes suggested that both parties could benefit from cooperation, with U2 providing some tickets and favours for the DFA, and officials in turn promising to lobby on behalf of U2 for securing a concert slot in a newly reopened outdoor stadium in Sydney, Australia.
Part of the new relationship between the band and officials from the DFA meant that a selection of (much sought after) tickets for the nearly 80 gigs across America would be on offer.
In the meeting, it was detailed that U2 would "gladly make available a certain number (perhaps 50-60) of backstage seats for the Ambassador or consul in a particular city on the tour".
However, later correspondence shows that officials had been over-enthusiastic in their invitations and had misjudged the number of tickets that would be on offer.
One clarification suggested that the number of "50-60" was across a number of dates in each city rather than each concert, before another telex confirmed that the band was offering ten tickets per show, "because they cannot handle the larger number," according to one message sent to Irish diplomats in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington DC.
A response from HQ a few days later on 3 April said: "You will appreciate that there is little can be done about U-turn by band in this matter.
"Why not ask your contact if you could put a few more than the ten per night on your list if situation is embarrassing?"
