The Pogues of Ireland were one of the last bands I got into passionately, in 1987-88 after a trip to Ireland. A song with a timely verse:
This land was always ours
It was the proud land of our fathers
It belongs to us and them
Not to any of the others
Will Prime Minister of Ireland Varadkar ban “If I Should Fall From Grace with God” as Hate Speech?
Back in the 1980s, it was widely said that the Pogues’ lead singer Shane MacGowan was, in the Gaelic bard tradition, on the verge of death from substance abuse. But he lived 35 more years and has now expired at 65.
In contrast, Kirsty MacColl, who dueted with MacGown on the Pogues’ famous Christmas song, “Fairytale of New York,” died heroically at age 41 while engaged in healthy outdoor exercise during a family vacation in Cozumel, Mexico. From Wikipedia:
… On 18 December 2000, she and her sons went diving at the Chankanaab reef, part of the National Marine Park of Cozumel, in a designated diving area that watercraft were restricted from entering. With the group was a local veteran divemaster, Iván Díaz. As the group was surfacing from a dive, a powerboat moving at high speed entered the restricted area. MacColl saw the boat coming before her sons did. Louis, age 13 at the time, was not in its path, but Jamie, age 15, was. She was able to push him out of the way (he sustained minor head and rib injuries), but she was struck by the powerboat, which ran over her. MacColl suffered severe chest and head injuries and died instantly.
The speedboat belonged to Mexican supermarket oligarch Carlos González Nova. A boathand claimed to be at the tiller, not the boss, and he took the rap.
So, you never know.
