Self Aid

Self Aid was an unemployment benefit concert held in Dublin, Ireland on 17 May 1986.[1][2] The concert performances were primarily by Irish musicians, although Elvis Costello and Chris Rea, both Englishmen of Irish descent, were designated "honorary Irishmen" for the day; the event was promoted by Jim Aiken.[3] The concert included the last performance by The Boomtown Rats until they reformed in 2013.[4]

Self Aid
Self-Aid poster with logo
Genre	Pop music Rock music Traditional Irish music
Dates	17 May 1986
Location(s)	RDS Arena in Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland
Years active	1986
Founded by	Tony Bolland Niall Matthews

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.[3] All musicians that took part donated their time free of charge.[2] All profits from the concert and subsequent album, Live for Ireland, went to the Self Aid Trust. The telethon raised millions of pounds for a job creation trust fund as well as over 1000 job pledges.[1] The song chosen for the finale was "Let's Make it Work", written by Christy Moore and Dublin songwriter Paul Doran.[2] Tributes were paid to Phil Lynott who had died just 4 months earlier, including a performance by a reformed Thin Lizzy with Gary Moore on lead vocals.[5]

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.[1]