Author Archives: Nick Kelly

Nick Kelly

Nobody told me there’d be days like this.

Strange days indeed.

It has been an honour and a privilege to have been so warmly welcomed into the weird and wonderful world of Broadsheet. It represents the best of Ireland. I have enjoyed working alongside John Ryan more than I can say. There are few in Irish media who possess an ounce of his heart, guts or punning ability.

Since Covid, I have looked upon my profession and despaired at what it has become. Seeing former journalistic colleagues calling for a witch hunt of the unvaccinated on national television is something I never thought I would ever see in my lifetime. Yet here we are.

When I began posting on this site in 2018 the world was a lot different: I loved promoting new Irish music in my daily You May Like This music posts. And the weekly Friday music quiz caught the imagination of the faithful Broadsheet commentariat in a way that gladdened my heart.

I want to thank our sponsors Golden Discs and Currys for their invaluable support which allowed the competition to become a much loved staple of the site.

I also want to thank our readers for encouraging me to continue with the format even after the vouchers ran out; that was a truly heart-warming show of solidarity that I won’t forget any time soon.

I also want to thank the various press officers who sent me so many great videos over the past 4 years (including Pete Murphy, Emma Harney, Ciaran Savage, Sheena Madden, Kevin Murray, Colm Slattery and Michelle Whitehead: I write their names out in a list).

And I want to thank the artists themselves for managing to create such powerful music even when circumstances locked down their dreams. I know this much is true: the Irish music scene has never been in such robust health.

Then Covid happened and everything changed. Although I continued with the music, popular culture and social history posts, I found that I could not stay silent on a subject which affected me so profoundly.

As a vaccine-damaged person who knows first hand the devastation that a pharmaceutical needle can inflict on a person’s health, I felt compelled to warn of the dangers of the jab.

The response to our posts on this subject proved to be polarising in a way that was as regrettable as it was unavoidable. Keeping silent on this issue was simply not an option. If you have a problem with the concept of freedom of speech, then maybe Western Civilisation is not for you.

Broadsheet, to its eternal credit, was the very embodiment of this sacred pillar. Alas, in Ireland it was essentially alone in a cultural landscape that has become gripped by an hysterical conformity to pre-approved narratives handed down by globalist bureaucrats who I suspect may not actually have our best interests at heart. A crazy idea, right?!

Alas, the zeitgeist has moved so far from a commitment to core democratic principles that Broadsheet came under a ferocious and sustained attack in the comments section by both honest and dishonest actors. I want to thank those commenters who rallied to our cause day in and day out. We could not have endured as long as we did without you.

To the honest commenters who virulently disagreed with us, I say this: we are just regular people who sincerely felt that our friends, families and the general public were in great danger. And we used this platform to sound the alarm. That’s it in a nutshell: we were never paid a penny to push any opinion. We pursued our editorial line because it felt like the right thing to do.

For the reasons mentioned by Bodger in his Closing Time post, eventually the excruciating war of attrition, on top of our normal financial and legal woes, took its toll. We had nothing left in the tank.

It’s a bittersweet moment for me. I am immensely proud that this website kept its head – and heart – when all around were losing theirs.

It was a rollercoaster ride for sure, but I loved every minute.

See you hopefully further on down the road.

Previously: Closing Time

Goodbye by Emmylou Harris

As the last chords fade, it’s time to pick a winner of the last music competition.

I loved all your entries, and cannot abandon any of my children, so it’s seems fitting to say you all won my esteem! (With a special mention to Giggidy Goo and Cu Chulainn for previous oversights.)

And yet…

… who could resist Slightly Bemused‘s choice of Abba’s Thank you for The Music to celebrate our Waterloo? Except perhaps Janet (sorry!).

Thank you all so much for making this weekly warm-down such a hoot.

I’ll leave you with a couple of my own farewell choices: So This Is Goodbye by Stina Nordenstam and, playing above, Goodbye by Emmylou Harris.

That’s all folks!

*sobs uncontrollably in the corner*

Previously: Win Nick’s Esteem

Meanwhile…

….Bodger writes:

Looking for a milk-loving, Americana-drenched muso with a heart of gold who writes like an angel?

Nick Kelly is your man and is newly available. Broadsheet@broadsheet.ie for contact details.

Pic: Shutterstock

Yesterday.

Trinity College, Dublin.

“…the mental gymnastics all of you are involved in here to maintain this narrative are stunning, given the educational backgrounds you have…”

A pandemic preparedness event hosted by the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute with Professor Luke O Neill and Kingston Mills, professor of experimental immunology and the academic director of the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, among the attendees, is interrupted.

No way to treat heroes.

FIGHT!


Keeley – Never O’Clock

Requiem for a dream.

So after four years curating this corner of Broadsheet celebrating the best new Irish music, it is fitting that we should sign off with the inimitable Keeley (top), who recently released the latest video in her project to keep the memory of Inga Maria Hauser alive.

A German teenager who disappeared when on a holiday in Northern Ireland in the 1980s, Inga is now immortalised in song thanks to the dedication and determination of this groundbreaking Dublin singer.

Keeley’s new EP is out now on Dimple Discs.

Read her blog here

Nick says: Go Keeley!

Keeley

So this is goodbye.

Thanks so much to everyone who left such supportive messages on my post yesterday. They really warmed my heart and are appreciated more than I can express.

I am sure gonna miss our regular Friday get togethers.

At least Janet can rest knowing that no ABBA songs are lurking under the next link.

It’s apt that the theme for our last music bants comes via esteemed Broadsheet Trailer Park supervisor Andy Pipkin, who writes:

“So with the heaviest of hearts, my last suggestion for The Last Quiz: ‘What’s your favourite song that mentions Goodbye or Farewell or Thank You?’ Here’s mine.”

Thanks Andy.

And here’s mine.

You know the drill: Please include video links if possible.

Lines stay open until Sunday at 5pm.

Parting is such sweet sorrow,

Pic: Apple Corps

Fight!

Any excuse.

Last night/this morning.

Ultan Mashup writes:

A real musical prophet has gone. Responsible for so much music creativity. RIP.

The 80’s wouldn’t have happened without him.

Dave Smith, the father of MIDI, has died aged 72 (NME)

Getty