Singer urged to 'rethink' Tel Aviv concert plan

CANADIAN troubadour Leonard Cohen made a triumphant return to Ireland last night with the first of five Irish concerts.

His date at the O2 in Dublin follows a series of performances at the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham last year which are already the stuff of legend.

It also won him a Meteor award for international performance of the year.

“It’s a great privilege to come back to Dublin to play Ireland,” he told last night’s sell-out audience.

“It’s getting kind of tricky out there on so many levels. We’re so privileged to be able to gather in places like, and on occasions like this, when so much of the world is plunged into chaos and suffering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”

Members of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign held a protest outside the venue, criticising Cohen’s decision to play Tel Aviv later this year.

“I’m his biggest fan,” said protester Cecilia Garrigan from Blackrock, Co Dublin, who had a ticket for last night’s concert in one hand and a placard in the other.

“Leonard is a sensitive, intelligent man. I’m urging him to rethink that decision.”

Hilary Mench also from Dublin said Cohen’s music could not be divorced from politics.

“We would love to see him play Tel Aviv, but only after the Israelis stop oppressing the Palestinians.”

Politics, though, was far from the minds of most concert-goers who wanted one last chance to see Cohen before he retires.

Familiarity has not bred contempt for his legions of Irish fans, who prior to last year’s memorable comeback, had despaired of ever seeing Cohen play live again.