Politics

Glen Hansard tells protesters: ‘There is a general sense of anger’

Damien Dempsey tells crowd: ‘You can see the rebellion in people’s eyes’

‘I’m not political, but the Irish nation has now been forced to be (political) and to come out on the streets,’ Glen Hansard said .Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons / The Irish Times
‘I’m not political, but the Irish nation has now been forced to be (political) and to come out on the streets,’ Glen Hansard said .Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons / The Irish Times
Ciaran D'Arcy
Wed Dec 10 2014 - 20:52

Not content to let the politicians take centre-stage at Wednesday’s anti-water charge protest, a number of well known musicians also converged on Dublin’s Merrion Square to entertain the crowds.

Oscar-winner and internationally-renowned singer Glen Hansard didn't just entertain. He also addressed the issue at hand.

“I’m not political, but the Irish nation has now been forced to be (political) and to come out on the streets,” said the Ballymun native and former lead-singer with The Frames.

“It feels like there are more and more screws being put on the people, to pay taxes for this, that and the other… I think there is a general sense of anger, a seething dissatisfaction and I’m just like anyone else,” he said.

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He proceeded to serenade those in attendance with a performance of his celebrated song Falling Slowly from the soundtrack of the film Once.

There was more excitement in store when Hansard was joined on stage by fellow northsider Damien Dempsey. Their duet performance of singer Luke Kelly's old favourite The Auld Triangle had protesters in rapturous form, and Dempsey had some words of his own for the Government.

“You can see the rebellion in people’s eyes - you can see the spirit coming back into the Irish people,” he said.

Actor Martin Maloney from the Hardy Bucks TV comedy series on RTÉ continued to ramp up the rhetoric later in the day as he recounted his own family's experiences with emigration.

"My mother and father had to leave Mayo as teenagers. My dad had to work digging tunnels in London, my mother had to clean apartments for the wealthy in London," he said. He flew in from Stockholm especially for his guest appearance.

“My grandparents built the roads in England and the railways, and why we cannot build our own country in this day and age astounds me,” he said.

“I’ve got one message to say to you all, the people of Ireland deserve better. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, poor, what your ethnicity is, what your religious belief is, who your political party is. All that matters is that you deserve better, and we expect more.”