Shane MacGowan with the Pogues at Brixton Academy (1988)

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On 20 December 1988, ITN filmed Shane MacGowan and the Pogues as they performed their song, Streets of Sorrow / Birmingham Six, at Brixton Academy. The track, written by MacGowan, the band's primary songwriter and frontman, and multi-instrumentalist Terry Woods, had recently been banned by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), in line with a Home Office directive banning the broadcasting of individuals supportive of terrorist groups in Northern Ireland. In fact, the song told the story of the Birmingham Six, a group of Irish men imprisoned following a IRA bomb attack in Birmingham. Specifically, the song alleged that the Six were innocent, and had been found guilty after false confessions were extracted from them through torture at the hands of the police. In 1991, the British high court found that the Birmingham Six had indeed been wrongfully convicted, and ordered their immediate release. The ban on the song was lifted soon after.

Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan has died aged 65, following a long period of ill-health. Born in Ireland and raised in England, MacGowan's poetic fusion of traditional and modern themes and forms, together with his raw, howling delivery, saw him recognised as one of the most influential Irish musicians of his lifetime. In 2018, at a concert gala to celebrate his 60th birthday in Dublin, MacGowan was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by Irish President Michael D. Higgins. The same year, MacGowan was honoured with the Ivor Novello Inspiration Award for songwriting.

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