Artists Against Homelessness in aid of Focus Ireland
Moxie, Dervish, Pauline Scanlon, Honas & Seba Safe
The Model, Sligo at 8pm on Fri. 17th June
The Sunday Independent’s Artists Against Homelessness in aid of Focus Ireland will take place at The Model, Sligo on June 17.
The show promises to be a great night with exceptional music from some of the best acts in the country, Moxie, Dervish, Pauline Scanlon, Honas and Seba Safe coming out to play a very special live performance for a very worthy cause.
The night is curated by Moxie and is a truly stellar line up in aid of an issue that is more depressing and relevant than ever. “I came back home to live in Sligo in 2019,” said Ted Kelly of MOXIE. “Walking through town regularly I have noticed how the homeless situation has become progressively worse. More and more vacant shop doors have become filled with sleeping bags, O’Connell Street is more dense than ever with people having to beg for their basic human rights. It is a dreadful situation. I feel compelled to help do something to improve this situation. Moxie Dervish, Pauline Scanlon, Seba Safe and Sligo Native Honas have offered their artistry to raise money for Focus Ireland to help improve the homeless situation in Sligo. Please come and buy a ticket to help support a good cause on June 17th at the Model, Sligo.”
Speaking on behalf of Dervish, Shane Mitchel said “The Homeless situation in Sligo is not as bad as the bigger cities but that being said, we have our problems. Despite the recent very sad events, Sligo is a very kind city with a very strong community spirit. The Shalomar Homeless Hostel in Finisklin is a fantastic facility (this ironically is the house I grew up in before all the houses in this area were sold to the council in the early 80’s) The great people here deserve so much credit for their fantastic work. It is remarkable to see the sudden and creative work by the authorities in Ireland and rightly so, to accommodate the Ukrainian refugees. A bit of creative thinking is for our own Irish Homeless crisis is needed urgently. We should stop at nothing to keep people off the streets, Dervish are delighted to be part of this great concert “Artists Against Homelessness”.
“The Model is thrilled to collaborate on this wonderful event curated by Moxie to raise awareness of this critically important cause,” said Patrick Curley, Music & Performance Coordinator of The Model.
Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan said: “As a proud Sligo man it fills me great pride to see how much our services have developed locally over the last 16 years. Services provided include tenancy support and sustainment, advice and information service, long-term supported accommodation, and short-term supported accommodation. I am proud that Focus Ireland staff nationwide and in Sligo have been working harder than ever to help our service users since the pandemic. We have been collaborating successfully with the state, local authorities and the HSE to help people find a home. The current situation would be even worse without the vital services and housing Focus Ireland provide.”
Looking forward to ‘Artists Against Homelessness’ in Sligo Mr Dennigan added: “Ticket sales from this gig will provide crucial funds for our services as Focus Ireland always needs continuous fundraising as homeless figures increase nationwide. As well as promising to be a great night of music, the concert also provides a chance to spread awareness about our work locally in Sligo.
This Sligo show follows three successful fundraising gigs in Dublin, Dundalk and Gorey recently. So huge thanks must go to Wallis Bird who played Rock Against Homelessness at the Little Theatre in Gorey on April 16; Kojaque, Damien Dempsey, Shiv, EFE and Curtisty who played Artists Against Homelessness at the Olympia in Dublin on April 17 and Toshin, and Odhran Murphy who played Rock Against Homelessness at Dolan’s in Dundalk on May 2.”
“The upcoming gig in Sligo also promises to be a special night and Focus Ireland must express our gratitude towards Moxie who is curating the night as well as performing, along with the supremely gifted likes of Dervish, Pauline Scanlon, Honas and Seba Safe. Huge thanks must also go to Cadbury and Arachas who are sponsoring this event and of course The Sunday Independent who have put on Rock Against Homelessness at the Olympia Theatre, and now these series of nationwide shows, in aid of Focus since 2016 and has raised almost €160K for Focus Ireland. In that time everyone from Fontaines DC, Murder Capital, Glen Hansard, to Imelda May, Pillow Queens, Camille O’Sullivan, to Dermot Kennedy, Kneecap, Loah, and The Boomtown Rats and Finbar Furey and Hamsandwich, to The Stunning, Mundy, Something Happens, The Blizzards, The Mary Wallopers and many others have played at the Olympia in Dublin aid of Focus.”
“So I am over the moon as a Sligo man that the great Moxie along with the equally great Dervish, Pauline, Honas and Seba Safe are playing The Model for the most vulnerable in our society, the homeless.”
Doors 7pm, show 8pm, Tickets €20 available from www.themodel.ie now
http://www.paulinescanlon.net/