'There hasn’t been one in a while': Upcoming charity gig in Longford town

Dearbhla Gannon, Aisling Coogan and Tom O’Conner have come together to raise funds for Sudan via Médicines Sans Frontiéres. Called ‘Sing for Sudan’, the event will take place in Lyons Bar on February 20, with doors opening at 7:30pm. Admission is €5 per person to go towards the cause. 

From Longford town and only 16-years-old. Dearbhla has been a part of the Backstage Youth Theatre and Music Generation. She met Aisling through the theatre. The pair both loved acting and became close. Describing Aisling as someone who has been in protests for Gaza and Sudan, the pair enjoyed going to gigs around Longford together. 

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“She suggested it as a current humanitarian cause that we could help out with,” explained Dearbhla concerning where the idea spawned from. “We started going to gigs a lot in Longford. There hasn’t been one in a while so we came together and decided that we wanted to have one but have one to raise money for something. Tom is in one of the bands that’s playing and he’s been in it quite a few times to play these gigs. We brought him in as he had a load of contacts and he really wanted to do it for the cause and that. We got together and decided to host it.”

Featured on the night will be the bands: Happy Sunny, Someone’s Love Letter, Paralysis and Cinnamon. 

“We’ve been planning it for a month. We said we wanted to do it in the past but didn’t do anything with it.

“We kind of got a lot of the bands for organising. Harry, from one of the bands, helps us a lot with the PA. I had to sort out different things in different places. It is a community thing. I got my dad to post something on Facebook at one point!”

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If this event goes well, Dearbhla hopes to do more in the future. 

Proceeds from the admission go to support the cause, as the trio wants to keep it as low as possible so people can come and enjoy it. They also plan on including a donation bucket for optional, additional funds, with Aisling bringing it purchasable stickers and pins.