Hozier performed an emotional rendition of The Parting Glass on last night’s Late Late Show in tribute to those who have lost their lives to coronavirus.
The singer appeared on the show to launch an emergency on-air appeal for the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, who are experiencing an upsurge in calls to Childline.
He was also promoting a new initiative between ISPCC and RTÉ 2FM, where top Irish artists are performing across 2FM every night for a fortnight to raise funds.
While on the show, he spoke about how he got involved with the charity and his commitment to the organisation. He performed three songs: Shrike, Take Me To Church and The Parting Glass.
Miriam O’Callaghan, who was presenting last night’s Late Late Show, introduced his performance of The Parting Glass with a special dedication.
“I’d like to dedicate it to all the people who’ve lost their lives to this virus, but in particular the health worker who died today,” she said, to which Hozier replied, “absolutely.”
You can watch Hozier’s performance of The Parting Glass and Take Me To Church on The Late Late Show below.
It comes as on Friday night, Leo Varadkar announced a number of new measures for Ireland.
He said that Ireland was in the “next stage” of response to the crisis, as he asked everyone in Ireland to stay in their homes in all circumstances – with the exception of the following purposes:
- Travel to and from work for the purposes of work only when the work is an essential service that cannot be done from home
- To shop for groceries or collect food/medicine
- Vital family reasons
- Visiting those who require care
- Brief individual physical exercise within two kilometres of the home while adhering to strict two-metre social distancing measures – parents can bring children but must adhere to social distancing
- Farming services
All public and private gatherings outside of a household are prohibited. Public transport will be limited to those offering essential services while an emergency response will be stepped up in tandem.
Shielding or “cocooning” will be introduced for those aged over 70 and specified categories of people. Official and detailed HSE guidance on cocooning is available at this link.
All visits to hospitals, residential healthcare settings and prisons are postponed except for instances of compassionate grounds.
Travel to offshore islands is limited only to residents of those offshore islands.