With flowers or by singing his hit “Nothing Compares 2 U”, hundreds of Irish people greeted Tuesday in south Dublin the funeral procession of singer Sinead O’Connor, found dead at her London home at the end of July.
After a private ceremony in the morning, in the presence of President Michael Higgins and Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, the funeral procession, which was present the musician Bob Geldof, paraded along the seafront in Bray, a small town south of Dublin where Sinead O’Connor lived for 15 years.
He was greeted by an emotional crowd marching beside the hearse. Some threw flowers at passing vehicles or started hits by the singer, who became a world star in 1990 with “Nothing Compares 2 U”, written by the American artist Prince, but also known for her fight against sexual abuse in the world. Catholic Church and its taste for scandal. Ahead, a van was draped in LGBT flags with rooftop speakers playing reggae.
“Sinead loved living in Bray”, wrote the singer’s relatives in a press release on Sunday, explaining that they wanted to offer with this procession “a last goodbye”.
The procession passed the singer’s former home, where many wreaths have been laid since the announcement of her death on July 26 at the age of 56, which sparked an avalanche of tributes around the world .
“Sinead was an iconic figure, very controversial. Besides being a fantastic musician and singer, she instilled in people the need to speak out against injustice,” June Byrne, 73, told AFP. “That’s why we have to be here. We have to be here to say goodbye to her and thank her.”
“The wave of sadness and tributes to the life and work of Sinead O’Connor is testament to the profound impact she has had on the people of Ireland,” the Irish president wrote in a statement, referring to ” incredible pain, perhaps too much to bear” for the singer.
During the ceremony before the procession, Imam Umar Al-Qadri, head of the Irish Muslim Council, said a prayer in memory of Sinead, who converted to Islam in 2018, changing her name to Shuhada ‘ Sadaqat.
“The more she sang and spoke about her own pain, as well as the pervasive sins in society she witnessed, the more her voice and her words resonated with her audience and touched hearts,” he said in his praise.
The burial was then to take place in private.
The singer was known for her fight against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, which she accused of not having sufficiently protected children. Irreverent, she had torn in 1992 an image of Pope John Paul II on television in the United States.
“She had the courage to speak up when everyone else remained cautiously silent,” Morrissey, lead singer of The Smiths, said on his website.
The singer, who claimed to have been abused by her mother, caused further scandal in 1999 when a dissident Irish church ordained her “priestess”.
The causes of his death have not been disclosed. Police said his “death is not being considered suspicious”.
In recent years, Sinead O’Connor has been pouring out on social media, threatening his former associates with legal action, describing his physical and mental health problems, sharing his suicidal thoughts and his complicated relationship with his family.
By 2022, his 17-year-old son Shane had taken his own life. Sinead O’Connor was then hospitalized after indicating on social networks that she was also thinking of suicide.
According to her agents, she was finishing a new album, preparing for a tour and planning to bring her autobiography, “Rememberings”, to the screen, due out in 2021.
08/08/2023 16:44:41 – Bray (Ireland) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP