The President and Sabina attended the private funeral service of Sinéad O’Connor in Bray, Co Wicklow.
In a statement, President Higgins said:
“The outpouring of grief and appreciation of the life and work of Sinéad O'Connor demonstrates the profound impact which she had on the Irish people.
The unique contribution of Sinéad involved the experience of a great vulnerability combined with a superb, exceptional level of creativity that she chose to deliver through her voice, her music and her songs.
The expression of both, without making any attempt to reduce the one for the sake of the other, made her contribution unique - phenomenal in music terms, but of immense heroism.
However, achieving this came from the one heart and the one body and the one life, which extracted an incredible pain, perhaps one too much to bear.
That is why all those who are seeking to make a fist of their life, combining its different dimensions in their own way, can feel so free to express their grief at her loss.”
