KEY POINTS:
Bono, lead singer with the top international rock band U2, and his wife Ali Hewson, paid final farewell to the band's stage manager Greg Carroll, after travelling to New Zealand this week for his tangi and burial in Wanganui.
Bono, his wife, U2 drumer Larry Mullen, and four other group associates left Auckland yesterday after arriving in the country on Wednesday and travelling south to join Mr Carroll's family for the tangi at the Kai-Iwi Marae.
Mr Carroll, who was 26, died after a road accident in Dublin, where he was based with the band.
He worked with several Auckland bands before being hired by U2 as a permanent member of its organisation in 1984.
Bono played a key role in the funeral ceremonies, and gave a reading at the graveside at Aramoho Cemetery.
"We came as ambassadors," he said. "Greg was part of our family."
While the other "ambassadors" left Auckland yesterday, Bono and his wife flew out to Nicaragua, which he is visiting as a member of an Amnesty International team.
U2 recently played a series of Amnesty International concerts in America.
