Seán O’Connor, the father of the late Sinéad O’Connor, has said he misses the singer and said he visits her grave every week.
The 87-year-old, who is also father to the author Joseph O’Connor, appeared on Oliver Callan’s show on RTÉ Radio 1 on Thursday where he spoke about his relationship with his children, his memories of growing up in Dublin’s Liberties and his grief after Sinéad’s death.
As the second anniversary of Sinéad’s death approaches on 26 July, Mr O’Connor said he cried for two weeks when she passed away.
The second anniversary of Sinéad O’Connor’s death is on 26 July
“When Sinéad passed, I cried my eyes out for a fortnight. I still miss her,” he told Callan. “Of course it’s a comfort (the outpouring of grief by the public), but Sinéad had two personas.
“One was in the public arena and the other was with her family and I saw her funeral as being lovely for her fans.
“At a personal level, I’ve never had publicity in respect of Sinéad and it made it all the more hurtful for all of us when she died.
“I visit her grave every week… and we have a conversation and I bring her up to date.”
Seán O’Connor said he visits Sinéad O’Connor’s grave “every week”
When Callan said it was “very difficult, as a dad”, Mr O’Connor agreed.
The radio presenter asked what he did for Sinéad when “the fame part was cruel to her”, and he replied: “You can’t do anything except be there.
“Sinéad could be outrageous in the public world and she could be outrageous in the family, she could be cranky. In the end I always had compassion for her, she was always on the edge.
“We got on very well, most of the time, sometimes she’d fall out with me.”
He also recounted the happy memory of the last time he saw Sinéad when they took a three-night holiday in Wexford and said that having so much family around him helped when she died.
“It was a sad time, the extent of the family around me helped,” he added.