Sallins Inquiry Now Benefit
Vicar Street, Dublin
★★★★☆
The nexus of art, social justice and politics is made tangible at Vicar Street on Sunday night when, 50 years on from the Sallins train robbery, a slew of artists, led by the musician Cormac Breatnach, come together to renew a call for a State apology and an inquiry.
Early arrivals are treated to a summary of what happened in 1976 – the brutal beating and wrongful conviction of Breatnach’s brother Osgur, Nicky Kelly and Brian McNally – with audio clips from the first benefit concert, in the 1980s, of Altan, Mary Black and Niall Tóibín and searing commentary from the late TD Tony Gregory.
Scene set, what ensues is a reminder that gatherings such as these are a crucial part of the journey towards social justice: they hold space for stories to be told; they weave disparate threads together with subtlety and grace; and they demand more of the audience than mere passivity. They remind us of the power of the people to hasten change and to demand accountability.
The poet Paula Meehan brings the evening into sharp relief by summoning the words of James Baldwin: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
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She and Colm Mac Con Iomaire open the concert with timely spurs in the form of Meehan’s poem Seed and MacCon Iomaire’s take on a sean-nós song of the famine, Johnny Seoighe. Later, Mac Con Iomaire’s tune The Minbar of Saladin, which he composed after a visit to Palestine, mines the common ground that unites us all.
Christy Moore’s presence brings a renewed sense of continuity, as he has been part of the campaign for five decades. Kicking off his set with The Wicklow Boy, his powerful reflection on the jailing of Nicky Kelly, he then reinvigorates No Time for Love, a song so beloved of Moving Hearts, and every bit as vital now as it was decades ago.
The journalists Patsy McGarry, Gene Kerrigan, Justine McCarthy and Peter Murtagh (through a written reflection delivered by Cormac Breatnach) and the poet Theo Dorgan connect the Sallins case with countless others, their collective insights offering a shocking litany of injustice after injustice.
The flame having been well and truly lit, Damien Dempsey (with his smoking-hot band) and Kíla put fire in our collective bellies with two searing sets. Dempsey’s capacity for connection brings vim and vigour to everything from his iconic Apple of My Eye to Colony and The Rocky Road to Dublin.
The arrival of Osgur Breatnach on stage is a moving reminder of why this intense evening is so badly needed.
