Emmalene stunning mural of Sinead O’Connor

TALLAGHT street artist Emmalene Blake has completed a stunning mural of the late Sinéad O’Connor, saying she “deserved so much more”.

The Irish singer died aged 56 at her home in London on Wednesday, July 26.

A week after her passing, Tallaght native Emmalene Blake put the finishing touches on a mural of the Nothing Compares 2 U singer on a wall in South Great George’s Street.

The mural captures a frowning Sinéad in song, with Blake explaining that the Dubliner “was angry” and used her voice to “fight for people’s rights”.

“A woman walked by while I was painting this and gave out to me for making her look so angry,” Blake said on social media.

“She said it would be ‘much nicer with her looking happy’. I replied that she had a lot to be angry about.

“Why would I paint her happy, when she should still be here. Her son should still be here.

“She WAS angry. And she had every right to be angry. And she was angry on a lot of other people’s behalf’s too. And she turned that anger into something useful, she used it to fight for people’s rights, and to speak up for the abused and the oppressed.

“She was brave and she wasn’t afraid to show her anger, even if it made people call her mad and even if it meant she was ostracised.

“Now she’s gone, and I’m angry. A lot of people are angry. She deserved so much more. She deserved for people to fight for her the way she fought for others.”

Many across Ireland and worldwide mourned the death of Sinéad, with activists and artists alike paying tribute to her.

Before her death, Sinéad had moved into an apartment in London and was in the process of finalising an album, which she intended to release in 2024.