PREMIERE: Patrick Bergin releases charity cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Anthem'

Irish actor and musician Patrick Bergin has released a brand new cover of Leonard Cohen's track 'Anthem' with all funds going to the charity Trócaire.

Patrick initially performed the song at Croke Park during the Pope's visit to Ireland in 2018 to an audience of 80,000 people.

He was inspired by the lyrics and sentiment of the song to release a new version recorded with the Mornington Singers for Trócaire, which he has been a supporter of for a long time.

"When making this video we attempted to capture my sense of the lyrics, in which both despair and hope are represented. That's when the light gets in, so I think it's an uplifting offering," Patrick explains in a press release.

"The world has been through a traumatic two years due to the pandemic, which has had a devastating impact on developing countries where Trócaire works. This has been compounded by the effects of Climate Change. Due to Covid restrictions people have lost livelihoods and have not been able to feed their families. And unlike Ireland, where well over 90 per cent of the population are vaccinated, the vaccination levels in developing countries are alarmingly low."

Patrick also told Hot Press earlier this week that "due to the content of the song and the lyrics, we felt that Trócaire was the best choice as the charity."

"I'm also a huge Leonard Cohen fan. I actually flew one day to L.A. from Dublin to see him because I missed a gig of his at Kilmainhim."

Trócaire CEO, Caoimhe de Barra, said on the video that they "are honoured that Patrick Bergin, along with long-time supporters of Trócaire John and Gerry McColgan [makers of the video], have produced this powerful version of the Leonard Cohen classic, 'Anthem'. I hope that it will be a timely reminder to people who download it that, in the words of the song: 'There is a crack, a crack in everything, That's how the light gets in.'"

Watch the powerful video for 'Anthem' by Patrick Bergin below, out now on all streaming platforms.