MEMBERS OF U2 and former president of Ireland Mary Robinson have received a new European award recognising people who have helped promote and defend the continent’s core values.

They were among 20 inaugural laureates to receive the European Order of Merit, which was awarded at a ceremony in the European Parliament in Strasbourg this morning. 

The award honours individuals who have made “significant contributions” to European integration or to the promotion of values such as peace, democracy and human dignity.

Neither Robinson nor the rock band could be present to accept their respective awards, which will be conferred on them at a later date.

“Today we recognise their invaluable contributions to the European Union,” the parliament heard. 

U2 were awarded in their absence. European Parliament European Parliament

Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, who were spotted filming a music video in Mexico City last week, were recognised collectively as U2 for their award. 

The ceremony heard they were receiving it for ”their unique combination of cultural excellence and social commitment, using what they do as a creative force, and for their community of shared values, for promoting peace, freedom and solidarity, and for promoting a shared European identity through their music and their humanitarian action”.

Robinson, who served as Ireland’s president from 1990 to 1997 and later as the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, was named an Honourable Member of the order.

The ceremony heard she was receiving the award “for her leadership as President of Ireland, in advancing equality, justice and human rights, for her commitment to vulnerable communities and to a more just and sustainable world, including in her role as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights”. 

Mary Robinson, pictured at a climate conference last month, was also unable to attend the conferral ceremony. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Opening the ceremony, European Parliament president Roberta Metsola said they were there to honour those “who champion European values – in parliaments or summits and in surgeries and on sporting fields, in newsrooms and in courtrooms, in laboratories and in concert halls, in the quiet dignity of a life giving over to someone beyond oneself.”

Metsola said some of the laureates may not have thought of themselves in such a way, but that the bloc “has always worked through countless small acts of people who each, in their own way, kept our union moving forward”.

She said the laureates have shown that “every time someone shows up, every time someone stands up, our Europe is made stronger”. 

Other figures recognised include Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and former German chancellor Angela Merkel, who were named Distinguished Members of the order. Zelenskyy was not present to accept his award.

Chef and World Central Kitchen chief executive José Andrés, basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo and human rights lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk were also among the first recipients.

The award was created last year to mark the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, widely regarded as the starting point of European integration. Up to 20 people can be appointed to the order each year.