U2 to play homecoming gigs in Belfast and Dublin

Bono and U2 are currently on a European tour to promote their latest album, Songs Of Innocence

Irish rock band U2 are set to play six "homecoming gigs" on the island of Ireland in November, with two shows planned for Belfast and four in Dublin.

They will play Belfast's SSE Arena, formerly known as the Odyssey, on 18 and 19 November. It will be their first Belfast tour date in 18 years.

The Dublin shows will be staged in the 3Arena on 23, 24, 27 and 28 November.

U2 are currently on a European tour to promote their latest album, Songs Of Innocence, released last October.

In recent interviews, band members had raised doubts over whether they would be able to announce Irish dates for their latest tour.

In Italy on Saturday, U2's lead guitarist The Edge told the Press Association: "This show is designed for a type of venue and unfortunately there isn't one, certainly in the south [of Ireland].

"I think there might be one in the Belfast area, so we're looking at that as well. But you can't invent a venue. It's either there or it isn't.

"So, we're doing a lot of head-scratching right now to see if we can figure out something."

However, in a statement released on Tuesday night, The Edge said: "Finding venues to take this show is actually quite tricky and we're grateful to our overworked crew who finally cracked the reconfiguring to fit these venues."