An Irishman In Australia

Damien Dempsey is as Irish as they come; he has become a hero of the working class over six albums and 15 years. Last month he celebrated with the release of It's All Good – The Best Of Damien Dempsey. 

”We went about the best of like it was a gig, like we were writing a setlist. We just put on the songs that we felt meant most to people, the ones that really move people, but it was hard…” says Dempsey. 

“There's a song called Colony that's an anti-racism song and I think that's important; racism causes so much pain and war and suffering in this world. Another song was about two of my friends who took their own lives, because lots of people have come to me and said that song actually saved their life. So when you can write a song that can save a few lives I s'pose you need to put it on the best of,” he says with a cheerless chuckle.

For many down-and-out Dubliners circa 2009, Dempsey's lyrics scattered randomly on the city's walls by graffiti artist Maser brought hope as unemployment rates soared. His positivity has drawn the respect of fans and some of Ireland's finest songwriters alike, a point that makes him feel proud as he reflects on his career to date.

“There was a great band called The Dubliners, and one of the guys was dyin' – Ronnie Drew, the singer. They brought him into the main late night TV show in Ireland, and we got a song [The Ballad Of Ronnie Drew] from myself, U2, Sinead O'Connor, Shane McGowan from The Pogues and The Corrs.  I just looked across the stage at one time and saw all these famous Irish people and I was there singin' the words with them…” he says with disbelief. Even though O'Connor features on the compilation's title track and he counts her as a close friend, it still blows Dempsey away that someone of her calibre is interested in what he's doing.

“I've never seen a singer like her. I toured Australia with Sinead and America and Europe and I've never seen a singer like her; to be able to hit you in the heart and send a shiver up your spine, it's otherworldly,  just otherworldly. She's sang on a lot of my albums you know, so that's a great moment for me as well to have a huge idol of mine think my stuff was good enough that she would sing on my albums.”