Nothing compared to you: Thousands of fans line Irish streets in tribute to Sinead O'Connor ahead of funeral
8 August 2023, 10:37 | Updated: 8 August 2023, 11:58
Thousands of Sinead O'Connor fans have lined the streets of Ireland to pay tribute to the late music legend ahead of her funeral.
Her funeral will take place today, with a cortege making its way along the seafront in Bray, eastern Ireland, near Sinead's former home from 10.30am.
Thousands of fans have been laying tributes outside her former home since her death on July 26.
Tributes include photos of the Irish music legend, as well notes referencing her iconic music.
“You are forever in my heart,” one tribute from a mourner reads.
Another note lists all the charities Grammy winner Sinead worked with throughout her life, adding the words: “Where words fail, music speaks.”
Another fan described her as a woman “for the women of Ireland”.
Read More: Sinead O'Connor's remains released to family following post-mortem after singer's shock death
The President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, and his wife, Sabina, will attend Sinead’s private funeral service later today.
In a statement, President Higgins said: “The outpouring of grief and appreciation of the life and work of Sinéad O'Connor demonstrates the profound impact which she had on the Irish people.
"The unique contribution of Sinéad involved the experience of a great vulnerability combined with a superb, exceptional level of creativity that she chose to deliver through her voice, her music and her songs.
"The expression of both, without making any attempt to reduce the one for the sake of the other, made her contribution unique - phenomenal in music terms, but of immense heroism.
He added: “However, achieving this came from the one heart and the one body and the one life, which extracted an incredible pain, perhaps one too much to bear.
"That is why all those who are seeking to make a fist of their life, combining its different dimensions in their own way, can feel so free to express their grief at her loss.”
The Irish singer, known for classic songs Nothing Compares 2 U and Mandinka, was presented with the inaugural award for Classic Irish Album at the RTÉ Choice Music Awards.
She received a standing ovation for the 1990 hit ‘I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got’ and dedicated the award to “each and every member of Ireland’s refugee community”.
“You’re very welcome in Ireland. I love you very much and I wish you happiness,” she said during a rare public appearance.
She had struggled with her mental health in recent years, saying on the Oprah Winfrey show in 2007 that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder four years earlier.
In 2012 she announced on her website that she was ‘very unwell,’ having suffered a breakdown towards the end of 2011.
In 2014 however she said she was not bipolar and blamed her mental state on hormone-replacement therapy following a hysterectomy.
