Last night Christy Moore took to the mic with his guitar to perform a live version of ‘Palestine’ on The Tonight Show on Virgin Media 1 at 10 pm.

The song was originally written by American folk musician and social activist Jim Page back in 2002.

Moore was invited to perform the song in response to the announcement made by the Taoiseach Simon Harris yesterday morning, which declared that Ireland will formally recognise Palestine as a state, as of May 28.

Spain and Norway made similar statements.

In what is clearly a co-ordinated move, the three nations have made it clear that this decision is not to show support for Hamas but is in support of peace. The Taoiseach Simon Harris again condemned unequivocally the attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October, which resulted in over 1,200 deaths, with approximately 240 hostages taken by Hamas – a significant number of whom have subsequently died.

The legendary musician has been outspoken in his support for Palestine for many years, and in February, he played a special gig in aid of Palestine in Vicar Street, the proceeds of which went to the Gaza Emergency Regional Fund.

On April 20, Moore also attended a pro-Palestine march in Dublin City where he sang ‘Palestine’.

The song features simple effective lyrics which candidly detail the ongoing struggles of Palestinians:

“I’ll tell you a story, make it clear as I can
about the far away troubles in the Holy Land
pictures of the children etched in your mind
buried in the rubble of the firing line...”

The writer Jim Page is best known in Ireland for 'Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Russian Roulette' – which was the opening song on Moving Hearts' eponymous debut album. Christy Moore was the lead singer in that incarnation of the hugely celebrated and influential Irish folk rock and fusion band.

Listen to Moore’s live performance of Palestine last night on The Tonight Show below:

Christy Moore performs Jim Page's song "Palestine" on #TonightVMTV pic.twitter.com/XiRvhA4HuM

— TonightVMTV (@TonightVMTV) May 22, 2024