Gay Byrne’s daughter defends her dad after Sinead O’Connor filmmaker said their Late Late interviews were ‘… – The Irish Sun
THE daughter of Gay Byrne has defended her dad’s Late Late Show interviews with Sinead O’Connor — after the director of her new film said they were “cringeworthy”.
Broadcasting legend Gaybo features repeatedly in Nothing Compares, a documentary on the iconic singer’s career, which hits cinemas in Ireland today.
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His interview style in clips has been blasted as “condescending” and “patronising” by director Kathryn Ferguson, who helmed the feature.
But speaking last night, Gay’s daughter, Crona, refuted this, and said: “Oh God, no! My dad wasn’t a condescending type of person.
“He didn’t do that kind of interview . . . he had a huge admiration for her.
“He understood where Sinead was coming from . . . maybe not all the time.
“But he did have an understanding and appreciation for what she was trying to achieve.”
One clip shows Gaybo, who died in 2019, interview the 55-year-old Dubliner on her very first Late Late Show appearance in 1988, where he drew the audience’s attention to her shaved head.
He said: “They’re all looking at you, Sinead, in TV land, going, ‘mother of God, what did she do with her head? I hope my daughter wouldn’t turn out like that’. Isn’t that what you’re saying (viewers)?”
Remarking on the relationship between Gay and Sinead, director Kathryn said: “It seems they had a close relationship.
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“There was a fatherly and daughterly thing going on.
“But when you see it through this contemporary lens, he is wildly patronising. It’s really cringeworthy.”
In response, Crona told The Irish Sun: “I know that clip and I absolutely love it. Because it was the very start of these interviews between Sinead and my dad on the Late Late.
“That opening bit (about her shaved head) my dad was saying that to get rid of the immediate thing of, ‘who the hell does yer woman think she is?’”
Although cinema-goers only see the on-screen exchanges between Gay and Sinead, daughter Crona said her father was as protective of the controversial singer as he was of his own daughter.
Crona said: “Dad wanted to take Sinead under his wing, and give her guidance, just as he did to us and many others.”