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Grieving Bob Geldof has told how he believes he will never be reunited with daughter Peaches.

The iconic singer, who is an atheist, also revealed he "half expected" his daughter to die the way she did.

When quizzed about the afterlife and the possibility of meeting loved ones again, Bob said: "none of it appeals to me".

He told Sunday with Miriam on RTE Radio 1: "None of that stuff appeals to me [the afterlife]. None of it works, it's [life] over. That's it.

"That's why part of their death is relief for them and for me. It's over.

"Their ashes, their molecular structures are still fizzing around in the ashes. Those atoms don't die, they continue.

"We put the ashes around some rose bushes and some peach trees and here they are still.

"Those hugely funny, mad atoms... they've reassembled themselves into a thing of beauty."

(Image: PA)

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"Part of me kind of half expected Peaches to be honest with you.

"The way she was carrying on - there's nothing you can do about it - but she is the one who is with me every second of the day.

"She's the one who bangs into my consciousness at any moment when I'm not doing something. She's very present.

"That's incomprehensible to me still.

"I find that label 'forever 25' unbearable.

"You're not supposed to see your children die. That's the problem with that."

And Boomtown Rats star, 64, revealed being told his mum was dead by his father helped him when he had break the news of Paula Yates' death to his own kids.

He explained: "I didn't know what to do when I got the phonecall. It was Pixie's tenth birthday.

"She was excited for her birthday. She was opening her presents and we had to hurry because she had to get into her smart clothes to go over to her mother.

"I was sitting on the sofa. The phone rang and I picked it up and it was Josephine Fairley, Paula's mate, and she told me that she had found Paula dead and Tiger was there and [asked if] Tiger could come over.

(Image: Rex)

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"It was a lot of information to absorb while your children are ripping open presents and blowing out candles.

"I had to pull right back and not go 'oh my god'.

"I just said 'yep, ok, thanks. Can't speak now'.

"I put down the phone and I could just about say to them in a normal voice, 'I'll be back in a minute', and I went down the corridor of the flat.

"I was in a state of panic. I kept saying 'what do I do? What do I say?'.

"I had to do it [tell the kids] and I imagined this is what happened to my father.

"I could barely take in the information, the phone started going crazy and the bell started ringing because the press were immediately there.

"I walked back into the sitting room and I smiled. I sat down and waited until she had finished her presents and I said: 'I've got something to tell you, it's serious'.

"Fifi made a comment about her mum and I said exactly what my father said to me. I said: "No, your mum died last night."

Bob said Paula's death didn't have as profound an impact on him as when the pair split.

He said: "I was completely bereft. The leaving was worse than the dying. I couldn't understand it, I loved her profoundly.

"I didn't understand then that love is not enough."

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