Many of us are sad to hear of the death of Irish singer-song-writer Sinead O’Connor this week.

Understandably, the world has showered accolades on her for her music and particularly her voice.

But ironically, she refused to be a pop star; she refused to cash in on her natural beauty. For her, music was simply a medium – a medium for expressing her own integrity and her outrage against evil.

I will remember Sinead O’Connor in the much the same way as former Irish Times journalist Kate Holmquist, who said of her: ‘Like a poet, she has terrified us by speaking the truth’.

But more than a poet.
 
Sinead O’Connor was a 21st Century prophet in the Biblical tradition – in the Jesus tradition.
She fearlessly challenged corruption. She exposed what was being hidden by those  controlling the popular narrative available to us mere mortals – particularly exposing abuse in the Church.  And, like the prophets of old, she paid a heavy price for it.

Here is the first time I saw Sinead O’Connor on TV. And it is how I will remember her.