{"id":511824,"date":"2026-05-31T15:14:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T15:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/511824\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T15:14:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T15:14:15","slug":"fans-on-cmats-st-annes-park-gig-she-speaks-the-language-of-love-and-the-language-of-ireland-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/511824\/","title":{"rendered":"Fans on CMAT\u2019s St Anne\u2019s Park gig: \u2018She speaks the language of love and the language of Ireland\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy Junior Cert is in six days,\u201d reads a makeshift poster being held up in the crowd at St Anne\u2019s Park, in north Dublin, where more than 20,000 CMAT<\/a> fans have gathered for the singer\u2019s Saturday-night concert<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It competes for attention with other paraphernalia being waved in the air, including a wedding veil, an orthopaedic boot and a flag that looks as if it comes from Blanchardstown shopping centre.<\/p>\n

As the crowd waits for CMAT to take to the stage, some at the front are lazily tossing a beach ball around while others practise a progression they learned from the line-dancing group Strut, one of the evening\u2019s opening acts.<\/p>\n

Most striking are the masses of children on their parents\u2019 shoulders: people of all ages have come to see CMAT perform at her biggest solo gig in Ireland so far.<\/p>\n

Among the younger folk in the crowd are Meabh Keeley, Robyn Duggan and Fenna Meagher, all 11 and 12. It\u2019s their first time going to CMAT. What\u2019s their favourite song of hers? They waste no time in reaching a consensus that it\u2019s The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station.<\/p>\n

Meabh and CMAT are \u201cboth Meath<\/a> women\u201d, Meabh\u2019s dad, Gerry Keeley, says; they have come from Slane, a few stone\u2019s throws from CMAT\u2019s native Dunboyne. \u201cShe\u2019s the best thing to come out of Meath since Mick Lyons<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

He points out that there are \u201cgrandparents, kids and grandkids\u201d here. \u201cI mean, she speaks the language of Ireland, doesn\u2019t she \u2013 the language of love and the language of Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not quite Niamh Kennedy and Emma Cosgrave\u2019s first time seeing CMAT. \u201cI\u2019ve been to every concert I could,\u201d says Kennedy, who initially saw her at the Trinity Ball before the singer released her first album, If My Wife New I\u2019d Be Dead<\/a>, in 2022.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0CMAT at St Anne\u2019s Park review: Five-star performance by a pop star at the top of her gameOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

They back CMAT\u2019s stance on the former taoiseach Bertie Ahern<\/a>, whom she criticised at the Ivor Novello Awards earlier this month for his remarks on immigration, and whom she blames for the effect the financial crash of 2008 had on her upbringing and those of many others.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs someone who\u2019s living at home and feels like there\u2019s no hope for young people in Ireland, I fully agree with her,\u201d Kennedy says.<\/p>\n

Towards the back of the arena, where the crowds are less dense, clusters of fans are taking the opportunity to sit on the grass in the week\u2019s unexpectedly long-lasting sunshine.<\/p>\n

Among them are Rosie Keane and Jenny O\u2019Hanlon, who are from Artane and Clonee. They\u2019ve just been talking about the body-shaming abuse<\/a> CMAT received after appearing at BBC Radio 1\u2019s Big Weekend festival in Sunderland last weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely disgusting. She\u2019s a fantastic artist. Take her for what she is,\u201d O\u2019Hanlon says. \u201cWe come in all shapes and sizes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she was thin they\u2019d have something to say as well,\u201d Keane adds.<\/p>\n

Abby Rice, a recent graduate from Termonfeckin, in Co Louth, agrees with them about attempts to body-shame the singer. \u201cIt\u2019s refreshing that she addresses it,\u201d Rice says. \u201cI love how she calls it out in every set she does, and gets thousands of people to boo anyone who would do that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Over by the stage, the Cullen sisters have secured prime spots in front of the barrier. The whole family are fans, but Joanna Cullen\u2019s \u201cthe one to talk to\u201d about CMAT, they say.<\/p>\n

\u201cColm actually played at our wedding,\u201d she says about Colm Conlan of the Very Sexy CMAT Band, who plays keyboards and provides backing vocals.<\/p>\n

The Cullens are disgusted by the recent body-shaming. \u201cIt just takes away from her brilliance,\u201d Joanna\u2019s sister Treasa says. \u201cStop trying to detract from the fact that we actually have a saviour among us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s the backdrop of everybody\u2019s crisis. She\u2019s what gets everybody through,\u201d their mother, Tilde, says. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a couple of crises in our family, and she is what everybody listens to when you\u2019re absolutely in the shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the gig, fans are buzzing as they leave the arena. \u201cI thought it was just fantastic,\u201d Joe says. \u201cShe\u2019s like a reincarnation of Fleetwood Mac<\/a>, and there\u2019s a bit of Springsteen<\/a>. We could see all those bands from the 1980s. She\u2019s bringing it all together. For our generation, people in our late 40s, it\u2019s just fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fashion designer Joanne Hynes<\/a>, who has dressed CMAT several times, is also making her way out of the concert. \u201cShe used to save up to buy my clothes,\u201d Hynes says. \u201cAnd then we connected. It was just lovely, because it\u2019s all come back to that, back to the roots. I think she represents the idea that you can have a dream in Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cMy Junior Cert is in six days,\u201d reads a makeshift poster being held up in the crowd at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511825,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[75],"tags":[15248,14867,52,18,117,28937,19,17,221885,1873,221884],"class_list":["post-511824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-bruce-springsteen","tag-cmat","tag-dublin","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-fleetwood-mac","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-joanne-hynes","tag-meath","tag-mick-lyons"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116669845521890656","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}