Damien Dempsey predicts it’s all good at the moment

Though he may have a sixth sense, Michelle Cooney finds musician Damien Dempsey is still very present to his loyal fans

DAMIEN DEMPSEY can see into the future. When I meet the Dublin singer songwriter he looks tired and slightly withdrawn. Understandable after a week that began with him dragging a drowning man to safety from the River Slaney near Enniscorthy just before he was about to play the Strawberry Festival. He jumped out of his tour bus and waded into the water having spotted two swimmers in distress. The bravery of his efforts was remarkable enough but his revelation that he predicted it would happen seems extraordinary.

“I was thinking about it last week, I had it in my mind, I just knew something was going to happen,” he states simply, almost to himself. “I was thinking of it happening, I was thinking of something to do with water...” he trails off as he searches for an explanation “you get that the odd time, little premonitions, you know.”

“And I was thinking last week about the musician Clive Barnes and when I got to Enniscorthy he was playing before us on the bill. I didn’t know he was going to be there.”

It’s not the first time that Damien has had a sixth sense. Back in 2003 he wrote, ‘Celtic Tiger’, a song in which he railed against the rising culture of greed that he felt the boom was bringing. His voice of dissent at a time of growing economic prosperity antagonised some: “Yeah, the song wasn’t very popular,” he says with the hint of a smile. “People were wondering why I was saying (negative things) because they thought we’re finally doing well, we’re finally out of the bad years. But I just smelt a rat; I could see the face of the people changing, arrogance coming in, we lost our soul”.

“It was a bit like the Native Americans when they got alcohol, you know, the Irish were like that when they got their money, they just didn’t know how to handle it.” While he believes that the people are returning to core values again he is less than generous about the politicians. “They’re fat cats; they know their kids are going to go to the best schools. They don’t really give a shite. For them to say we’re going to slash the money for the really vulnerable people in society and give that to Germany, I mean what kind of leader would do that? One that wants to keep his job and his massive pension.”

It’s been 14 years since his first album but clearly, social injustices are still igniting the fire for the Donaghmede man. Often hailed as a working class hero, he is now being celebrated as a hero in the more literal sense, following his quick thinking by the river in Wexford. The subsequent praise sits uneasily on his broad shoulders and he looks physically weighed down by it as we chat. Music is his preferred lifeline for those in distress. Having battled depression he strives to reach out to the individuals in his audience. It has gained him a formidable reputation as live performer but he believes it is a two-way exchange — both cathartic and energising.

“The audience are the key. Just to see them all singing individually and you know they are all singing from a different place. They are all thinking about a different period or episode in their life and all the emotion is coming together as one; a big outpour of positivity and pain.

“I feel that, all the stress and depression — it’s all coming out from in here,” he says, pointing to his chest. “They are purging it when they are singing it”.

He doesn’t hesitate when asked if he is doing the same: “Absolutely yeah, I’m in the same boat, it’s good for the soul, it really is, it really helps.”

While his loyal fans have made his headline gigs legendary he still relishes the diversity of the festival circuit and is looking forward to playing Indiependence in August. He spent much of the first half of the year touring and promoting his best of album It’s All Good in Australia and New Zealand so he’s glad to be home.

“It does feel good yeah, it’s been a long stretch. But I enjoy the festivals because people are outdoors and it gives them a kind of freedom, so there is usually a good vibe going.” Before we finish, I wonder if he has any more premonitions, anything we should know for the future.

“There will be another boom. It (the economy) will swing back up again and it will have another bust in, I’d say, 25 years. That’s not a premonition. It’s just how it works; its how they control us, keep us enslaved financially.”

Some things can’t be changed but Damien Dempsey will keep reaching out, both on stage and off it.