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Eithne Shortall: Like Damien Dempsey, we should celebrate the importance of being earnest

Witnessing the emotional audience reaction to the singer-songwriter’s one-man show was a heart-opening moment that the slagging Irish could learn from

Damien Dempsey: the singer-songwriter’s earnestness is worth celebrating. Picture: Rich Gilligan

My happiest moment last week came while sitting in the Abbey Theatre. I had gone to see Tales from the Holywell, Damien Dempsey’s one-man musical journey through his life. I won’t review the show – Sara Keating did that expertly last week – but let me give you my critical assessment of the audience: ten out of ten. Five stars. I would absolutely pay full price to face the wrong way and watch them all ...