When Bono, ever the flamboyant showman, tumbled off stage during his theatrics in Miami at the start of U2's current world tour, giving tour promoters heart palpitations, his father's reaction was typical.
During a subsequent phone conversation with his son, his deadpan query was: "Did you fall off any more stages yet?"
Fr Jack Heaslip, family friend and chaplain of Mount Temple Comprehensive where Bono went to school and met his fellow band mates, translated for the congregation. "What he meant was: 'I'm sorry to hear you hurt yourself. Are you all right?'"
"Later on, when Bono rang up his very ill father and told him he was sorry he couldn't be with him and that he felt useless being so far away, Bob said: 'Sure, if you were at home, you'd be useless anyway.' Translated: I know you have to do your job and it's all right."