Four days after news of her death, dozens of fans of Irish pop singer Sinéad O’Connor commemorated in Dublin. Together they sang their biggest hit, the song “Nothing Compares 2 U” written by Prince, in central Barnardo Square. The socialist-feminist organization Rosa called for the commemoration. In a speech, former Irish MP Ruth Coppinger praised O’Connor as a gifted singer and courageous activist who opposed all forms of oppression and exploitation.
“Poverty, war, institutional and interpersonal abuse, misogyny, racism, homophobia, transphobia — Sinéad pointed them all out and was demonized for it,” Coppinger said. She was by no means fearless. “She felt the fear but did it anyway. That’s the true definition of courage,” Coppinger told the PA news agency.
O’Connor had denounced abuse by clergy in Ireland, which was still arch-Catholic at the beginning of the 1990s, and was therefore attacked.
The singer was found dead at her home in London on Wednesday at the age of 56, according to Scotland Yard. No information was given about the exact circumstances of death. Dublin native O’Connor had recently returned to London after a long break from the British capital.
In the seat of the Mayor of Dublin, Mansion House, there was a condolence book for Sinéad O’Connor for people to write in. It was initially unclear whether, when and where a funeral service or burial was planned.
