Ronan outs ‘auld PC nonsense’
RONAN Collins has apologised for playing the censored version of the Pogues’ Fairytale Of New York on the second last day of his RTÉ radio show.
The censored version removes a homophobic slur from among the list of insults sung by Kirsty MacColl to Shane MacGowan in the line: ‘You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot.’
The radio presenter described the censored version as ‘auld PC nonsense’ while apologising to listeners yesterday.
‘I want to apologise for playing that version, because that was the radio edit where it didn’t have the original words in it. And I’ve never, ever played that version before, and I should have listened in advance – because I always play the original. Out the door with that auld PC nonsense,’ he said.
Mr Collins is due to retire from his afternoon music programme today after 43 years on the radio.
The removal of ‘faggot’ in some radio versions has brought controversy and debate in recent years.
Last year, Warner Music created a new radio edit, which replaced the line with ‘you’re cheap and you’re haggard’.
This new ‘haggard’ line was taken from a live performance by Kirsty MacColl, who herself had begun censoring the song before her untimely death in a Last show: Presenter Ronan Collins freak accident involving a jet-ski in 2000. In 2018, MacGowan defended the song. ‘The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character. She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person.’
The Ronan Collins Show, which began broadcasting in 1985, will finish up today. It is still the most listened to music show on Irish radio with about 232,000 listeners.
Collins will continue to broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 on bank holidays at noon with The Collins Collection, on which he will perform and sing with his own band and guests.