Shane McGowan RIP

I am not so sure about that. Plenty of maroons out there doing drugs. Whether they will ever become famous is another thing. Not saying he was a maroon but maybe if he had not done so many drugs and not smoked he might still be alive now instead of dead at 65. His death did not come as a surprise to me at all.

He had destroyed his brain with his drug taking and drinking.

A great entertainer, songwriter and human being. RIP Shane. The bells are indeed ringing out.

"He's avin a go at he the Galway fans now"

He stayed in a hotel I was the night porter in during the Galway Fleadh when they were showing "If I Should Fall From Grace" and honestly he was an incoherent drunken mess pretty much the entire time. He was drinking pints of White Russian at the same rate his hangers on were quaffing G&T's (on his tab of course). In the two nights he stayed I got the best two tips of my barkeeping career: £100 from his then manager Joey Cashman to keep the bar open (something I was already being paid to do) and, far better: a rendition of Rainy Night in Soho (my favourite Pogues song) in the stillness of a hotel bar at 4am as the dozen or so of us there marvelled at the fact a man that drunk could still tear your heart out when he sang.

He was undoubtedly a genius, and sadly his alcoholism made him vulnerable to a lot of unscrupulous people only too happy to indulge it as long as he was picking up the tab.

RIP Shane

RIP Shane, but I can’t stand Fairytale of New York and we will be bombarded with it even more this year.

Also, is Shane not British?

RIP Shane

Is his biopic with Barry Keoghan finished?

Nope, he was more Irish than me, and I'm 100% Irish.

Being Irish is a cultural thing, it's not defined by your birthplace. Shane was more influential in shaping Irishness than any other artist I can think of. For those of us growing up in the 80s, Shane made us feel, for the first time, happy to be Irish.

Rest in peace to another Irish legend, up there with kirsty singing away ❤️

In the case of Shane, everything. Because everything he did was shaped by the area he lived in, and the culture he grew up in. A house with a big old-fashioned kitchen, with a big open fire, where sides of pigs were hung up in to be smoked, and a blackened smoke kettle or pot would be hung from a fire iron and swung in over the fire to boil. In the winter, cards would be played, songs sung, stories told, and a few bottles drank.

Really? He had a scholarship to a school in Westminster, he was mainly raised in England.

Yes, but he spent a lot of his growing up in the family home place near the Silvermine's, outside Nenagh in Tipperary. Thats where he learned all the Irish songs, and where he got his musical influences from. He never claimed other than he was Irish.

Obscenely talented, Rum Sodemy and the Lash would be probably be in my top 10/15 favourite albums all time records, their best of is unreal…I’ll give both it spin later.

Considering his lifestyle, 65 really is a pretty decent innings and he’s achieved and contributed more in those 65 years than a lot of people who’d live even 20 beyond that…..leaving an incredible legacy of music to be enjoyed for all time....

shame about his addiction it would have been nice to see him enter older age with good health and a greater chance to live a fuller healthier life….

Are you under the mistaken impression that radio stations don't play Fairytale of New York any more?

According to https://irishradiolive.com/playlists, the song was played a whopping 3,420 times on Irish radio since November 1st.