Here's one opinion: http://www.salutlive.com/2014/11/song-of-the-day-sharon-shannon-dessie-o-halloran-say-you-love-me.html
"He has a broken, strangled voice that, in all honesty, you'd think only a close relative could love. Except that the close relative has been joined by countless other admirers and the pair of old codgers who write all that appears at Salut! Live are among them.

"...ramshackle vocals on which O'Halloran may well hold some sort of trademark. But for the song and its context, that voice is as near to being the perfect match as you will find outside the pages of Mills & Boon.

"You hear that song and you imagine a wizened old man in an pub somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, sipping his pints of stout, rolling his own fags and occasionally breaking into the session to sing the songs he knows," a friend said.

And I love it. Maybe a whole concert of Dessie's voice would be stretching it a bit far, but I am totally hooked by the song and chorus, voice, mannerisms and the sheer fun value. Look at Sharon and the other musicians. Look at the faces of audience members. Everyone is having a fabulous time..."