The Ciara Phelan Podcast: Remembering Sinéad O'Connor and how the world reacted to her death
A book of condolences at the Mansion House in Dublin for Sinéad O'Connor. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins
It is almost two weeks since renowned singer and activist Sinéad O'Connor died, and news of her death has reverberated around the world.
In a special edition of The Ciara Phelan Podcast, journalists discuss the portrayal of the music legend during her life and following her death as well as the reaction to her passing both in Ireland and the UK.
They also explore how the singer's religious beliefs influenced her life and music and how these beliefs have been covered in the media since her death.
Columnist with the Suzanne Harrington said she thought words such as vulnerable and frail to describe O’Connor do not do her any justice.
“I think she was absolutely made of iron, and she took on things that we couldn’t imagine,” she said.
“She took on patriarchy, she took on the church, mainstream media, she took on the music industry, she took on everything simultaneously at an age like 30 years before MeToo, maybe 20 years before the clerical abuse scandal came to light properly.
“She was out there shouting into the void, and she got crucified for it.”
Ms Harrington also noted the lack of coverage of the singer’s death by some UK media institutions such as the BBC, ITV and Channel 5.
The panel also discusses whether the coverage and reaction to her death has been adequately covered and whether it has captured the woman that O’Connor was.
Journalist Eoghan O’Sullivan and news editor Deirdre O’Shaughnessy explore whether O’Connor’s religious beliefs have been covered appropriately following her death and how religion influenced her music.
Mr O’Sullivan said: “She never wavered in her beliefs that the church loved her, she loved the church, but it was the wider church that she had a real problem with, and she continued talking about religion throughout her life.”
Ms O’Shaughnessy added: “You know, even these days what I think is such a contrast, I suppose when she was initially so well-known, the fact that she was so religious would make people deeply uncomfortable these days, because we're all not so religious. So she was always at odds with the prevailing thinking on whatever it was. She very much paddled her own canoe on everything.”
The panel also discusses O’Connor’s mental health struggles, the loss of her son, Shane, to suicide and whether the singer understood how much she was adored.
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