The former presidential candidate and MEP was the main attraction at the charity gig in the Crover House Hotel in Denn, Co Cavan, on Friday night. The benefit concert created controversy last week when it was reported that local people were outraged that Dana Rosemary Scallon was due to perform at the benefit gig.

Smyth reportedly took sanctuary at Kilnacrott Abbey, near Ballyjamesduff, while he was on the run from the RUC for paedophile crimes committed in the North.

But Dana told the Sunday Tribune: "I was very surprised when I was contacted by a journalist who said that people in the area were angry about the concert. This concert had nothing to do with the terrible things that Fr Brendan Smyth was responsible for.

The priests who are currently in the abbey had nothing to do with that.

"The abbot who is there now had nothing to do with it and I know that when he arrived, he came into a very difficult situation. I spoke to him about the controversy and he said that he had not received any complaints about the concert."

Dana confirmed that she had performed at a previous charity event at Kilnacrott Abbey two years ago in aid of Irish emigrants at the Kilburn Centre in London.

She added: "You can see how well-respected the staff are in the community by the huge crowd that came out here tonight. They do great outreach work in the community and I am very happy for them that tonight's concert has gone so well. Nobody can excuse what happened in the past with Fr Brendan Smyth but it is not right to tar all priests at the abbey with the same brush."

The evening opened with a group of schoolchildren from nearby Mount Nugent singing 'Kum-bay-yah' before Dana came on stage to the applause of a 600-strong crowd.

There was widespread applause when the singer voiced her strong anti-abortion views during the concert. She explained how she and her husband Damien joined the pro-life campaign after she penned a song containing the lyrics "Little baby yet unborn, in my womb so safe and strong".

At the entrance to the hotel function room where the concert was held, everyone was given an envelope to make a voluntary donation to the abbey, and a card with a prayer for the beatification of Pope John Paul II.

The crowd all joined in saying the prayer for the deceased pontiff at the interval before a raffle in which the first prize was an illuminated picture of the late pope. Bottles of wine, tins of biscuits, candles, and even an air compressor donated by a local company were among the other prizes.

Tea, pastries, and a Rosary CD were all on sale during the interval and any notion that Ireland is a nation of binge drinkers was dispelled by the queues for the tea and pastries as the idle bar staff watched on.

Dana's Eurovision-winning hit, 'All Kinds Of Everything', was dedicated to the priests at Kilnacrott Abbey who she said were "doing such a wonderful job in this community".

As well as her most famous number, Dana also sang 'Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace', 'Forever Friend', 'My Little Toes', 'Our Lady of Knock' and the song she recorded for the pope's visit, 'Totus Tuus'. Encouraging everyone in the audience to stretch out their arms and hug the person beside them, she said, "It's great to give people hugs as they are free of charge and there's no Vat on them!"

Meanwhile, Dana said she was looking forward to her appearance on tonight's new Celebrity Jigs 'n' Reels programme on RTE. "The heels are cut off me, my knees are hurt and my back is sore, " she said.

Paired with former Riverdance star Ronan McCormack for the show, she said McCormack had compared his Jigs 'n' Reels experience with her to "teaming a thoroughbred Arabian stallion with a cart horse!"