…Alistair Darling, and Shane MacGowan. All leaving us in the same 24 hour period.
What a picture it paints of the queue at St. Peter’s gate. 
I just had to remember Kirsty McColl too and listen to this:
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And the actor from Brookside as well from cancer - Dean Sullivan.
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There is an echo on the forum 
We have an apartment in the centre of Dublin which is a short walk from many of Dublin’s more famous hostelries, Toner’s, Doheny & Nesbitt’s, Searson’s, Kehoe’s etc.etc. One of the lessor ones, the Wellington, has fallen on rather hard times and is a handy place to go if you just want a pint and read the paper and not bump into anyone, which might result in a “session” 
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I popped in there, I think about a year ago, and it was empty as usual apart from a very battered person sitting in a wheelchair in the middle of the bar. I didn’t pay too much attention as I came in and just said hello and passed on. I then realised it was Shane with his wife and a pal. They had a couple of drinks and left, so I guess he was living somewhere in the area. Given the way he looked that night I’m surprised he lasted this long. Poor bloke 
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Although Kissinger was a hundred years old, it was the youngest of the trio whose demise always seemed the most imminent. The latest example of that tragic Irish trope of great talent and romantic self-destruction.
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Shane and Alex Higgins looked the same at the end 
George Best…
Still, the music was good, eh? 
Not from Kissinger or Darling, obviously. 
I remember having an extra job working as a barman three nights a week in a working mans’s club in Hounslow in December 1975 (I was saving up to change car) and Higgins played a demonstration match there one night. He was very decent and approachable, but could he lower the juice
Personally think Aitch Kiss’s drum ‘n’ bass trax were under appreciated…
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For me and like many, Higgins was the ‘peoples champion’. He came to our snooker hall in Norfolk from time to time as others did to give exhibition nights etc. One particular evening in the mid-80s he was supposed to be playing at our club . As it happens I played golf that afternoon and Higgins plus manager were also on the course, we crossed paths a few times. When me and my mate had finished Higgins and manager were in the bar with the great man looking the worse for wear. They left about 1730 with Higgins being poured into the car.
Not surprisingly the exhibition night was cancelled due to Higgins being ‘ill’.
Funny how you suddenly lose respect for someone !
That genuinely made me chuckle.
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Yes, sometimes having respect for someone’s excellence in one field can cloud the fact they are only human after all. When younger I was very interested in rallying, I helped with the service crew of a well known team so met some of the great drivers. Subsequently I moved back to Ireland for professional reasons and I convinced a couple of collegues to join me in writing a computerised rally results system for organisers. A first, not even the RAC had a decent one. We tested it on the Donegal international rally in '77 or '78, it was later pirated by the Ulster Automobile Club and others but by then I’d lost interest. So I was in the Rally HQ with all my heroes for the event. I soon discovered that they may have been drivers but that’s all many of them were. A bit single dimensional Bless 'em.
Many years ago, I was at the West Belfast Féile an Phobail. After Mary Black had performed, Shane Macgowan staggered onto the stage obviously the hammered. He clung on for dear life to the mic and slurred his way badly through one or two songs until Mary Black joined him on stage and led him off. Apparently, he was going straight from there to rehab. 
Shane was never going to make old bones but I loved his songs with a passion - especially the lyrics. One of my favourites is Rainy Night in Soho. 
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