09/07/2025
Born in 1975, in Donaghmede, Damien Dempsey – in the words of the late Sinéad O’Connor – “represents the sort of voice in Ireland that is not allowed to be heard.” When you meet him, you can barely hear him because he talks so quietly in conversation.
The 6ft-plus former boxer speaks in a near whisper as much out of shyness as the need not to puffing himself up with hot air He has been compared to Christy Moore and Luke Kelly.
On 2003’s Negative Vibes, he sings the kind of words few songwriters could muster: “Lord, won’t you give me the strength to be strong, and be true / Cos, Lord, when the devil gets into my head, I’m so blue.”
“Negative Vibes is a song that has helped a lot of people who are getting bulled or verbal abuse or stuff like that,” he reflects. “And it helps me. I sing it to myself sometimes, you know, if someone is being cruel to me or is saying bad things about me, or stuff like that.”
