U2 are being lined up as guests on Pat Kenny's final Late Late Show when it airs on RTE at the end of next month.

The Irish supergroup are expected to be among a number of VIPs paying tribute to Kenny for the special programme, which will bring to an end his ten year spell as host of the show.

The group had been due to make an Irish TV appearance in early May to promote 'Magnificent', the second single off their latest album No Line On The Horizon, but have decided to delay their RTE spot to take part in the Kenny tribute. The show is planned for Friday 29 May.

A source close to the group told the Sunday Tribune this weekend: "It's the show that everyone around U2 wants them to do. As well as drawing a huge audience, the band want to give Pat a good send off. Although he has never been that close to anyone in the group, he is very much a contemp­orary and someone they respect."

Almost a million viewers tuned in the last time U2 appeared on The Late Late Show in February 2008, when they led the chorus in a star-studded musical tribute to Ronnie Drew.

They were joined by Andrea Corr, Sinéad O'Connor, Shane MacGowan and Damien Dempsey to perform 'The Ballad Of Ronnie Drew' in front of the Dubliners' singer, who succumbed to cancer six months later.

U2's most famous appearance on The Late Late Show was in May 1999 when the band presented Gay Byrne with a Harley Davidson motorbike on his retirement after 37 years on the programme.

RTE insiders are describing next month's final Pat Kenny show as being along similar lines to the farewell given to Byrne which featured a host of big names from the worlds of

entertainment and politics, including comedian Billy Connolly and President Mary McAleese.

Byrne himself was interviewed by Joe Duffy, and a source on the show said that Kenny could similarly end up in the guest's chair talking about the highs and lows of his decade as host.