Fergal Ó Searcaigh With A Song For Cathal
Posted on Monday, March 17, 2008You might remember Fergal Sharkey, lead singer with the great Derry band, the Undertones.
Well, as you probably know, Sharkey is just an anglicised form of the Irish name Ó Searcaigh, and therefore, by a curious circularity, I thought Cathal Ó Searcaigh might appreciate Fergal Ó Searcaigh singing this song:
Teenage Kicks
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By the way, I just remembered that Cathal lives in a house provided for him by the Council in Donegal. In other words, a man who behaves as a great feudal benefactor in Nepal, building houses and providing water to villages, is somehow unable to pay for a house in Ireland. Instead, this man, who enjoys tax-free status as a bona fide artist, depends on the Irish tax-payer to put a roof over his head.
Hmmm.
Maybe Donegal County Council should demand sexual favours from Cathal. See how he likes it.
Stumble it!
March 17th, 2008
He was so much better with The Undertones. He had a solo song out that did quite well in the 80s, I think. I can’t remember the song, only that we used to call him Fergal Chin. Children can be so cruel.
March 17th, 2008
“A good heart is hard to find”. Shite song.
I think he also did something with Alison Moyet.
March 17th, 2008
you said at the end of your post that the arts council paid for his house - i don’t want to disagree with you as you seem infinitely older and wiser than i - but i think the arts council only gave him a GRANT to do it up….something like 12 grand…..i think……..
it’s still disgusting though…. i went to art college (in limerick as it happens) and once applied to the arts council for a grant of 500 pounds (for twas not today nor yesterday) and was turned down…….
maybe i should have applied to Bertie-Bank….
March 17th, 2008
I didn’t say anything about the Arts Council.
I was talking about the County Council.
(Infinitely older, you say?)
March 18th, 2008
very funny, in a very dark sort of way.
March 18th, 2008
He gave his papers, writings etc., to the County Council about 7 years ago and, in return, he lives rent free for the rest of his natural. A grant of in excess of Euro 200,000 was/is allocated to extend the house and turn it into a Tyrone Gutherie- style writers retreat. The sum of 12,000 Euro is the cnuas from Aosdana which is paid annually for five years in order to help writers devote themselves to their work and not have to do other stuff in order to support themselves. Can’t see that the writers/retreat centre will become reality now.
What I find most depressing about this story is the amount of people who must have been very aware of COS’s predelictions all along - and also the fact that the object of his first love, now a married man, has been easily identified within the local community and has had COS pin his dysfunctional life on the fact that this man did not reciprocate his love. Not only women can bunny boil!
So much of the way COS behaves, with the self focus and the being taken care of and having real life human ‘toys’ to occupy his nights and which he discards so easily, is so childlike. And possibly, for that reason too, he is likely to be total meltdown and has no facility to understand the outrage. The ones who really need their arses kicked are the Aosdana folk who have weighed in like furious parents with all the ‘these rules do not apply to my lad’ attitude that furious parents use.
March 18th, 2008
hehehe
March 18th, 2008
oops….my bad…..
ahem…….