The sad news of Christy Dignam's death last week brought an outpouring of affection for one of Ireland's most beloved musicians.
The Aslan frontman passed at the age of 63, after a decade-long battle with cancer which led to him being in palliative care since late 2022.
Remembered most fondly for his iconic live performances, and the iconic anthems he brought to live with Aslan, Dignam was remembered in poignant fashion by the people of his hometown on Saturday, as the streets of Finglas were lined with mourners who belted out Aslan songs aplenty to remember the late singer.
One "tribute" on RTÉ Radio, however, fell flat, and ultimately ended up insulting many listeners for the tone taken towards such a well-loved figure in the Irish music world.
Christy Dignam: Dave Fanning's RTÉ radio comments garner complaints
When appearing on Today with Claire Byrne in the direct aftermath of Christy Dignam's passing, Dave Fanning drew criticism for his flippant remarks towards Dignam's drug use and childhood suffering.
Absolutely beautiful tribute to Dave Fanning here from Dave Fanning. pic.twitter.com/NZNYp3AKsA
— Lord Bill Badbody (@BillBadbody) June 17, 2023
Fanning suggested that Dignam had "blown it" before appearing to question the legitimacy of Dignam's harrowing description of childhood abuse:
I never hung around with him [Dignam] and I didn't know Aslan as much as I maybe should have.
I know this is a time for eulogising, but I don't want to deify the guy either - he blew it, royally. He would say later on, "I was abused at the age of six by a neighbour, I had this hole in my life for ages so I filled it - not by trying to get high with heroin, but just by filling it with heroin to keep myself away from the memory of it."
I remember saying to him, "are you sure about that Christy, are you sure you're not trying to pull the wool over my eyes?"
You can look at it that way if you like, that's what I'm saying. Basically, you have two things about people who go on heroin - get rid of them, or do the best you can with them. He just blew it, and he left the band for five or six years.
He came back then a bunch of years later with Aslan, and they had the biggest hit of all. But it kind of went downhill after that in terms of major success. You can say what you like, they were the band for the people...
Fanning's tasteless comments went down poorly with the Irish public, and RTÉ have now revealed that they have received numerous complaints in the days following the broadcast.
In a statement, RTÉ said:
RTÉ has received 4 formal complaints and 41 emails and calls to the RTÉ Information Office giving negative feedback in relation to Dave Fanning's comments about Christy Dignam. We have no further comment.
Fanning has since responded to the controversy.
The DJ and broadcaster took to Twitter to address his comments and acknowledged his error.
I listened back to my bit on the radio about Christy Dignam feeling that it wasn’t perhaps as bad as some comments have made out. Comments were right, I was wrong - it was bad. I was trying to highlight some deeper issues in Ireland during the eighties and I totally missed the…
— Dave Fanning (@davefanning) June 20, 2023
Fanning said that he had initially felt the criticism of him had been harsh, before listening back to the segment and realising that he had been wrong. He praised the influence of Dignam and acknowledged his "ill-timed" remarks while wholeheartedly apologising to Dignam's family:
I listened back to my bit on the radio about Christy Dignam feeling that it wasn’t perhaps as bad as some comments have made out. Comments were right, I was wrong - it was bad. I was trying to highlight some deeper issues in Ireland during the eighties and I totally missed the mark. Incredibly ill-timed and poor taste. I really didn’t intend to come across that way.
Christy was honestly one of the nicest and most genuine people I met in the music business, as are all of Aslan, and I have said that many times down through the years. I particularly want to apologise to his family.
Christy was ALWAYS a gentleman who deserves better than that from me.
Featured image: Shutterstock/Sportsfile
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