U2 SINGER BONO issued a call to “stop war” ahead of performing Sunday Bloody Sunday at the Ivors award ceremony.

The performance came as the group became the first Irish songwriters to be awarded an academy fellowship at the 70th year of the awards ceremony, hosted at London’s Grosvenor House on Thursday.

Accepting the award from pop star Ed Sheeran, the group members each received an award with Bono – whose real name is Paul David Hewson – making a call for peace.

While the singer made his acceptance speech, The Edge, real name David Evans, began to strum the chords of their war song Sunday Bloody Sunday.

The song references the 1972 Bloody Sunday shootings in Derry, where members of the British army’s Parachute Regiment shot unarmed civilians during a protest march, resulting in the deaths of 14 people.

He said: “I used to introduce this next song by explaining that it wasn’t a rebel song.

“It was because believing in the possibilities of peace was, then and is now a rebellious act, and some would say a ridiculous one, to believe peace was attainable between your country and ours, between our country and itself was a ridiculous idea that we’re pleased we hold on to very tightly right now.

“Peace creates possibilities in the most intractable situations. Lord knows, there’s a few of them out there right now.

“Hamas release the hostages. Stop war. Israel be released from Benjamin Netanyahu.

“All of you protect our aid workers, they are the best of us.”

The group ended the evening with a performance of their 1988 song Angel Of Harlem.

Hosted by The Ivors Academy, the award ceremony aims to recognise and celebrate “exceptional achievements in songwriting and screen composing”.

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