Look Back On Anger
Twenty years ago, on October 3 1992, Sinead O’Connor ripped up a picture of the Pope on the iconic US television show Saturday Night Live. It was a moment that would change her career – and her life.
Olaf Tyaransen, 03 Oct 2012
It’s a beautiful balmy May afternoon in Galway city, only occasionally dampened by mild Atlantic squalls blowing in off the bay, and Sinéad Marie Bernadette O’Connor is having a good day.
So good, in fact, that the diminutive and distinctively shaven-headed singer is considering cancelling a psychiatric appointment in London tomorrow morning, and spending another leisurely evening chilling out in the west.
“God, I really don’t fancy heading back home tonight and then getting up at four-fucking-am to catch a flight,” she sighs, speaking quickly in her raspy, smoke-tinged voice.
Sinéad lives in a large but unostentatious seafront house in Bray, on the other side of the island, with three of her four children, two male nannies and, for the moment at least, her fourth husband.
She scrunches up her face, weighing the options. Following a serious mental breakdown – not her first – she was recently put on new medication (she has been diagnosed as having both bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders), and has since been making weekly visits to a Harley Street specialist to monitor progress. Although she feels better than she has in ages, and has lost a lot of weight, it’s still early days.
On the other hand, she’s really enjoying herself. Furthermore, between trains and taxis, it’s a four-hour journey home.
“Ah fuck it!” she laughs, whipping a bright pink iPhone out of her colour coordinated Ted Baker bag. “I’m gonna stay. I haven’t had a holiday in years!”
With a badly bitten fingernail, she pecks out an email to her PA, cancelling tomorrow’s flight and medical appointment.
In fairness, if anyone deserves a break, it’s Sinéad O’Connor. Even by her own tumultuous standards, the last nine months or so have been full-on. There’s been a very public search for a man, an improbable-sounding operation on her ladybits (to enhance sexual performance), a tacky Vegas wedding and subsequent on-again/off-again marriage, a widely reported suicide attempt, an acclaimed new album, the cancellation of her world tour, the firing of her manager, too many Twitter rows to mention, and enough newsprint to wallpaper several ghost
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Olaf Tyaransen
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