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I shot this last night in London and Fairytale of New York was playing as they passed by me, but it made me think it could have been Fairytale of London as Shane MacGowan of the pogues who co-wrote the song was born not far from where i live in Kent

I've never really liked Shane MacGowan or The Pogues. Yes, they composed light fluffy songs like 'Fairytale of New York' but they did really heavy stuff too. In the late 1980's the IRA were about to blow up a Police Station in the rural village of Loughgall, Northern Ireland. A mole inside the IRA had tipped off the British authorities about the mission and the SAS were sent over there to lie in wait for the IRA. When the IRA arrived, detonated their bomb and started firing at the Police station, the SAS, who were hiding behind bushes and trees in the vicinity of the Police station, opened fire. Within seconds all eight IRA men were dead. This was the biggest loss the IRA ever took in one mission. It's all very good The Pogues writing: "...and the boys of the NYPD choir were singing Galway Bay, and the bells were ringing out for Christmas day..." but they also wrote these lyrics in their song 'Streets of Sorrow' about the Loughgall incident:

"May the whores of the empire lie awake in their beds
And sweat as they count out the sins on their heads
While over in Ireland eight more men lie dead
Kicked down and shot in the back of the head"

Like a lot of Irish people who hate Britain Shane MacGowan and the rest of the band bizarrely choose to live here, having a nicer life than they would elsewhere due, in part, to the legacy of our Empire and the more affluent and advanced society we are as a result.

Ah yes the Loughall incident. When the IRA cowards accused the SAS of being too harsh the response was a simple "Big Boy's Games, Big Boy's Rules"...one of my Golf partners has an obsession with all things Oirish and thinks singing Pro Ira songs is funny. Kicked down? Eh no cut to bits by sniper fire, one of their vans had more holes than a string vest.

People sympathetic to the IRA have always said the reason the Loughgall attack took place at 7.00pm on a Friday evening was so that loss of life would be minimalized, at that time of day most of the office staff who worked in the Police station would have gone home. However there would still have been numerous Police officers there aswell as soldiers standing guard outside, so there would have been a high death toll.

Apparently the SAS were sent to take out the IRA unit, rather than the regular Army, because the IRA were using their 'A team' on the Loughgall mission - their most experienced and skilled unit. After all eight of them were shot dead by the SAS the IRA was at a major loss for ages afterwards, having to use less skilled and inexperienced people on missions, and many later missions were very amateur as a result.

Here is the blue Toyota van you speak of. Apparently the SAS fired over 600 rounds at the eight IRA men, all of whom were killed, but inevitably many hit the van and also the JCB digger that was carrying the bomb:

You do realise only 3 of the 9 original Pogues were Irish?

Also those lyrics are from The Birmingham Six which was written by Shane MacGowan, not from the Streets of Sorrow which was written by Terry Woods

As for your advanced, affluent society....foodbanks?
Really?

Some peeps at BBC Radio Kent have made a mock version of this song, not quite as good as the original but not bad
And a happy Christmas to all.

"You do realise only 3 of the 9 original Pogues were Irish?"

It depends how someone defines "Irish". I know someone of Irish parentage who was born in England, has never lived in Ireland but regards himself as Irish, tells everyone he is Irish, and supports Irish sports teams. So the members of The Pogues who were born in the UK may have an Irish bloodline and therefore view themselves as Irish - like the person I've just mentioned. A lot of 'Irish' people weren't born in Ireland and have never lived there. Shane MacGowan was, after all, born in Tunbridge Wells in Kent, but calls himself Irish because he is ethnically Irish.