Musicians gather for Christmas Eve busk in aid of the homeless

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Irish musicians gathered in Dublin city centre for the annual Christmas Eve busk in aid of the homeless.

Singers including Glen Hansard, The Coronas and Shobsy performed for hundreds of families and Santa-hat wearing spectators who had gathered for the traditional charity gig.

This marked the 13th edition of the Dublin Simon Community’s annual Christmas Eve Busk outside the Gaiety Theatre near Grafton Street.

Hansard, an Oscar-winning singer-songwriter, performed The Frames’ song Revelate while The Coronas belted out a rendition of The Cranberries’ Linger.

A Lazarus Soul vocalist Brian Brannigan, Dublin-based duo Lorkin O’Reilly and Jonny Pickett, and uilleann piper Seamus Ong and his sister Mary-Aoife Ong also performed during the busk.

In what began as an impromptu music session in 2010, the Christmas Eve busk has turned into a high-octane festive tradition in the capital.

Despite a hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, well-known and up-and-coming Irish artists take part in the charity fundraiser every year.

The busk comes after a series of new record high homeless figures in Ireland, with the latest stats showing 14,966 people were in emergency accommodation in October, including 4,645 children.

The statistics, released by the Department of Housing each month, do not include people sleeping rough, people couch surfing, the homeless in hospitals or prisons, or those who are in shelters for asylum seekers or victims of domestic violence.

The statistics indicate that homelessness has risen by 47 per cent since the last election in February 2020, and by 16 per cent among children year on year.