Self Aid was an

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refere ...

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

held in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 17 May 1986. The concert performances were primarily by Irish musicians, although Elvis Costello and

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues singer and guitarist from Middlesbrough. A "gravel-voiced guitar stalwart" known for his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty five solo albums, two of which t ...

, both Englishmen of Irish descent, were designated "honorary Irishmen" for the day; the event was promoted by

Jim Aiken James Wilson Aiken (May 26, 1899 – October 31, 1961) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football coach at the University of Akron (1936–1938), the University of Nevada (1939–1946), an ...

. The concert included the last performance by

The Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock music, rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hit record, hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Repub ...

until they reformed in 2013. The purpose of the concert was to highlight the chronic unemployment problem in Ireland at the time, with nearly 250,000 people unemployed. The 14-hour concert was the largest that had ever been staged in Ireland. All musicians that took part donated their time free of charge. All profits from the concert and subsequent album, ''Live for Ireland'', went to the Self Aid Trust. The

telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...

raised millions of pounds for a job creation trust fund as well as over 1000 job pledges. The song chosen for the finale was "Let's Make it Work", written by

Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his significant success as an individual, he is one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts. His first album, ...

and Dublin songwriter Paul Doran. Tributes were paid to Phil Lynott who had died just 4 months earlier, including a performance by a reformed

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or som ...

with Gary Moore on lead vocals. The concept of the concert — job creation through pledges — attracted criticism both at the time and subsequently, with critics claiming that no jobs had actually arisen as a result other than vacancies that already existed.

Concert performers

The line-up included: * Auto Da Fé *

Bagatelle Bagatelle (from the Château de Bagatelle) is a billiards-derived indoor table game, the object of which is to get a number of balls (set at nine in the 19th century) past wooden pins (which act as obstacles) into holes that are guarded by woode ...

* Big Self * Blue in Heaven *

Paul Brady Paul Joseph Brady (born 19 May 1947) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician from Strabane, Northern Ireland. His work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age. Initially popular for playing ...

* Chris de Burgh * Cactus World News *

The Chieftains The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including ...

De Dannan De Dannan (originally ''Dé Danann'') is an Irish folk music group. It was formed 1975 by Frankie Gavin (fiddle), Alec Finn (guitar, bouzouki), Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh (bodhrán) and Charlie Piggott (banjo) as a result of sessions in Hughes's ...

* Elvis Costello *

Rory Gallagher William Rory Gallagher ( ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995) was an Irish guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. Due to his virtuosic playing, but relative lack of fame compared to some others, he has been referred to as "the greatest ...

The Fountainhead ''The Fountainhead'' is a 1943 novel by Russian-American author Ayn Rand, her first major literary success. The novel's protagonist, Howard Roark, is an intransigent young architect, who battles against conventional standards and refuses to comp ...

* In Tua Nua *

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

Moving Hearts Moving Hearts is an Irish Celtic rock band formed in 1981. They followed in the footsteps of Horslips in combining Irish traditional music with rock and roll, and also added elements of jazz to their sound.Harris, Craig''Moving Hearts'' AllMusic ...

The Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse" ...

* Scullion * Brush Shiels * Stockton's Wing *

* Those Nervous Animals * U2

Live For Ireland songs

* Maggie's Farm - U2 (6:46) * Seven into the Sea - In Tua Nua (3:53) * Many Rivers to Cross - Elvis Costello and the Attractions (2:41) * Dirty Old Town - The Pogues (3:45) * Don't Pay the Ferryman - Chris DeBurgh (3:32) * Harry's Game - Clannad (2:32) * The Bridge - Cactus World News (4:19) * Looking after No. 1 - The Boomtown Rats (4:50) '' ot on US release' * Here Comes the Night - Van Morrison (3:58) * Don't Believe a Word - Thin Lizzy (2:23) '' ot on US release' * Steel River - Chris Rea (4:48) * Make it Work - Christy Moore / Paul Doran (Larry Mullen) (3:13) * The Lark - Moving Hearts (5:35) * The Island - Paul Brady (5:09) * Feel it Now - The Fountainhead (5:01) * Exiles - Auto Da Fe (5:17)

Alternate tracks on US release

* Boil the Breakfast Early - The Chieftains * Joey's on the Street Again - The Boomtown Rats

Alternate tracks on double vinyl/cassette release

* My Friend John - Those Nervous Animals * A Sense of Freedom - Les Enfants * The Arrival of Queen Sheeba in Galway - De Dannan * Old Pal - Brush Shiels * Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy - Bagatelle * Keep on Climbin' - Freddie White * Tell Me - Blue in Heaven * Follow Me - Rory Gallagher * Carol - Scullion * Leave My Kitten Alone - Elvis Costello and the Attractions * Skidoo - Stockton's Wing * Independence - Big Self Note: There have been multiple versions of this album, with varying tracks, in different formats and across different territories

References

External links

Live For Ireland album
{{Irish Festivals 1980s in Irish music Benefit concerts Music in Dublin (city)