“It’s a particularly poignant time for us this year,” said Catherine Kenny, CEO of Dublin Simon Community, as musicians prepare for the annual charity sing-song.
She said the singer-songwriter’s passing had been “incredibly impactful for us all”.
The Grafton Street Christmas Eve busk will go ahead as planned despite the tragic death of Glen Hansard earlier this year. Hansard, who helped establish the annual fundraising event more than 15 years ago, served as stage manager and master of ceremonies before he was tragically killed in a one-vehicle road traffic collision in Dublin in July.
Musician and close friend Mundy confirmed the event will proceed with help from fellow artists, telling reporters that performers like Imelda May and Liam O Maonlaí are stepping in to support the cause.
“I’ll do some of the lifting but not all of it,” Mundy said. “I’m sure there’ll be other people like Imelda May and Liam O Maonlaí getting involved. Glen was amazing, he was driven and could really rally the troops, and get artists to leave their families and come out on Christmas Eve.”
“But it was always a communal effort and I know myself and other people will want to continue the Christmas busk because the homeless crisis is not going away,” Mundy said.
The fundraiser started in 2010 as an impromptu performance on Grafton Street, where organizers collected three or four thousand euros in a woolly hat. Over the past decade and a half, the event has grown into an official gathering outside The Gaiety Theatre, raising more than €2 million in total for homeless services.
“I played at the first Christmas Busk in 2010,” Mundy recalled. “It came about because there was a gig to raise money for homeless charities in the Button Factory and Glen asked, ‘Do you fancy going for a busk on Grafton Street at five o’clock beforehand?’”
“So we did a few songs, and Noreen O’Donnell, (then a backing singer with The Frames) went around with a woolly hat,” Mundy recalled. “We made three or four grand for the homeless, which was more money than the gig made that night.”
Homeless Crisis Persists in Dublin
Kenny highlighted the severe scale of local housing needs as the festive season approaches. Approximately 70 per cent of the country’s homelessness was concentrated in Dublin, representing approximately 12,000 people, RTÉ reported.
“Really, at a time at Christmas when most of us think about warmth and home and being with the people we love, but for the people behind those numbers experiencing homelessness, they don’t have that sense of safety and security,” Kenny said. “It’s a particularly difficult time of year. They’ve got nowhere to call home.”
Funds raised by the annual busk go directly to frontline operations, including street outreach teams, temporary accommodations, and people trying to sustain their existing homes. Previous iterations of the street concert have drawn guest appearances from Bono, U2, and a young 17-year-old Dermot Kennedy, according to reports.
“Over the years, it’s raised over a million euros for us, and that goes directly into service provision,” Kenny said. “That goes directly to people who are experiencing homelessness via our outreach services on the streets, or people who are in temporary accommodation, or people who are trying to sustain their existing [homes], because a huge part of it is about prevention.”
“Glen always made sure the energy was there,” Mundy said to Dublin Live, recalling how the late songwriter spotted young talent. “If someone famous was doing a song that wasn’t lifting the crowd, he would call up a young performer that he knew had a belter of a song.”
“I remember he called up this kid to sing, a young 17-year-old Dermot Kennedy, and he just blew us all away,” Mundy said. “Glen could see Dermot’s talent coming up, he could see talent no matter how young the singer.”
Additional Simon Community Events
In addition to the Grafton Street gathering, several other fundraisers are scheduled ahead of Christmas. A Community of Hope art auction launches on 27 November, followed by the Sing for Simon concert at the Helix on 6 December and a Carolathon on 14 December.