Sinéad O’Connor: Vigils held in Dublin and London as fans express shock and sadness at death

Vigils to remember singer Sinéad O’Connor were held in Dublin and London on Thursday evening as police confirmed her death is “not being treated as suspicious”.

The Metropolitan Police said O’Connor (56) was found in a property in the city on Wednesday.

Flowers and candles were placed outside her former home in Bray, Co Wicklow, while an online book of condolences was opened by the Lord Mayor of Dublin.

A crowd of over 50 people gathered at the Irish Music Wall of Fame in Temple Bar to pay tribute as fans talked of why O’Connor was important to them and sang songs. Many spoke of the importance of her work as an activist, particularly her highlighting of sexual abuse in the Catholic church.

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A public gathering at the London Irish Centre in Camden saw Ireland’s deputy ambassador to Britain, Fiona Flood, among the 500 attendees at the event, which included music and recitals of O’Connor’s written work. Others gathered outside the venue as stories and memories of the singer were shared.

London’s Metropolitan Police said they were called at 11.18am on Wednesday to “reports of an unresponsive woman at a residential address in the SE24 area”, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Next of kin have been notified. The death is not being treated as suspicious,” they said in a statement.

The London Inner South Coroner’s Court said it was notified of O’Connor’s death on Wednesday and that “no medical cause of death was given”. The coroner has directed an autopsy to be conducted, and the results may not be available for several weeks.

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“The decision whether an inquest will be needed, will be decided when these results are known and submissions have been heard from the family.”

The Coroner’s Court said if an inquest is to be opened, the date of the “brief public hearing” would be provided on its website.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Daithí de Róiste, said on behalf of the people of Dublin he would “like to express my deepest sympathies to Sinéad’s family following her sudden death”.

“The news has come to a shock to me as well as the millions of fans she had in Dublin and around the world,” Mr de Róiste said.

“My thoughts are with her three children and her family who have lost a loving mother, daughter and sister, while the world has lost an amazing singer, songwriter and major talent.”

Remembering Sinéad O’Connor

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Film director Neil Jordan, who worked with O’Connor on two of his films, The Butcher Boy and Michael Collins, said that her death was “just tragic, but not inevitable at all”.

“That’s the thing that upsets me. I would have liked to have seen what work she could do when she got through all of the troubles and she came out the other side,” he said.

No funeral details for O’Connor have been released.