Damien Dempsey headlines Rock Against Homelessness gig in 2025
Damien Dempsey headlines the charity event at the 3Olympia Theatre on Friday February 7th 2025.
The Sunday Independent’s Rock Against Homelessness in aid of Focus Ireland celebrates ten years of amazing gigs and over €450,000 raised with Damien Dempsey headlining the 10th anniversary of Rock Against Homelessness
Focus Ireland reports that sadly the homelessness crisis has deepened again in the last year: a record total of just under 15,000 people are now homeless and shockingly this includes over 4,645 children. These figures demonstrate that we need events like Rock Against Homelessness now more than ever.
Rock Against Homelessness in aid of Focus Ireland goes on sale next Wednesday 18th December. Tickets priced €40 are available from www.ticketmaster.ie. Phone and internet bookings are subject to 12.5% charge.
‘It makes me angry to my bones that in 2024 there are almost 5000 children without a home in Ireland and 15,000 people homeless. It is beyond words of anger or sadness that this issue has not been fixed. What are the so-called people in power doing about it ? Not a lot, as far as I can see. I often wonder about the fact that they can do nothing about homeless now but in the 1930s and 1940s – when Ireland was on its knees as a nation financially – they could still manage to build massive housing estates around Ireland for people to live in. Why can’t they do that now? They are too busy selling out the people by selling the soul of Ireland to international vulture funds who couldn’t care less about anything or anyone other than money. Something needs to be done urgently about helping the homeless in Ireland.’
‘What do we need to do? I think we should really, really push the Government now to put it into law that people abroad can vote, that the Irish who were born abroad can vote in Ireland in a General election. There is 141 countries around the world that this happens in and we need to push for that in this country. That is important.’
Damien Dempsey.
‘The support and awareness we get from an event like this is amazing. Focus Ireland needs to raise over 40% of our annual budget through donations and events like Rock Against Homelessness so we really need people to support this magnificent event again this year. Damien Dempsey is well known for his strong voice on social justice, and it is a great fit to have him as the headline act for the 10th Rock Against Homelessness. The crisis has got worse as the number of people homeless has shot up 14% in the last year. These are not just percentages and statistics, but everyone is a real person whose life has been in crisis because they have lost their home. It is unforgivable that 4,645 children will be homeless this Christmas in Ireland. However, the situation would be a lot worse again without the hard work of Focus Ireland and other organisations. We are all working to help prevent and tackle homelessness and Focus Ireland helped 18,000 people last year who were homeless or at risk. We now provide over 1,600 permanent homes for families and individuals across the country through Focus Housing. It’s important to never forget that homelessness is a problem we can tackle when we work collectively. Having the support of partners like Cadbury’s, Arachas, Starbucks, the Hard Rock Cafe and the Independent is tremendous in showing what can be achieved.’
CEO of Focus Ireland Pat Dennigan:
‘We have had some great performances from some great acts since we started. The Boomtown Rats in 2017 with Glen Hansard and The Strypes doing “Rat Trap” with 1700 people singing its grim chorus: “It’s a rat trap and you’ve been caught.” In 2020, it was impossible to forget Fontaines DC with Kneecap almost tearing the roof off the venue in one of the most powerful and incendiary shows I’ve ever seen. We also had Dermot Kennedy and Imelda May in 2018, Pillow Queens in 2021, Lyra in 2023. They have all been, in their own way, completely unique. There is something about Damien Dempsey headlining the tenth anniversary that is truly special. He’s about to sell out six shows at Vicar Street. His new album Hold The Joy is probably the record of the year with so many songs that powerfully reflect the uncomfortable reality of Ireland in the present day. Damien is a man who has been singing deep, deep from the heart for many years about the issues that many young people find themselves caught in, the hellish economic rat trap that Bob Geldof famously sang of in 1987. He is a true hero and the perfect person to headline and curate the show (with some very special guests soon to be announced) that already promises to be one of the gigs of the year.’
Barry Egan, who has put on Rock against Homelessness in aid of Focus Ireland for the last ten years for The Sunday Independent
