Damien Dempsey review: A night of deep emotion and devotion as passionate crowd soak up every moment

Dublin singer’s run of Christmas shows at Vicar Street prove a huge draw every year and it’s easy to see why

Damien Dempsey performing at Vicar Street Dublin

Barry Egan

“I’ve a bit of a Ronnie Drew on me,” Damien Dempsey told the crowd last night at Vicar Street in Dublin. He knew who to blame for his flu (Ronnie Drew, geddit?) too. He went for a swim in Dublin Port last week. The water was “a teeny weeny bit manky”.

When he was getting in, he looked to his left on the steps down to the sea and saw something looking up at him on the water’s edge.