Irish contenders The Matthews were on the streets of Dublin on Saturday night – and it was all in a good cause. Campaigners against homelessness in Dublin did an overnight sleep outside Dáil Éireann, on Kildare Street, to protest at the lack of Government action on the issue.
“We decided to go down and play a few songs for them,” the band told Hot Press. The gesture was much appreciated by the gathered crowd, who were preparing to face into a long night – though luckily conditions were not too cold on the evening in question. Among the songs sung by the band was ‘Need Your Love’ – one of their trademark big songs, which has yet to be released as a single.

The band recently did a gig for the homeless charity, the Peter McVerry Trust in Whelan’s – and the video for their recent single ‘Colourblind’ deals with the issue of homelessness. The band subsequently released a follow-up single ‘Save Me’, which is also accompanied by an evocative black and white video, which touches on the issue of teenage suicide.
The band are due to appear live on Dublin radio station FM104 this coming Saturday night, on the Open Mic show, with Keith Ward, between 10pm and 11pm – during which they will play three tracks live, as well as being interviewed by Keith. We can also expect to hear their current single ‘Save Me’.
Another homeless man was found dead outside Starbuck’s (formerly Bewleys) on Westmorland Street, in the centre of Dublin on the same night that the sleep-out took place on Kildare Street. According to the Inner City Helping Homeless charity, there has been an increase of 32% in the numbers sleeping rough in Dublin.