By Ursula Duddy
Grammy-nominated Derry musician Johnny McDaid has had his songwriting talents recognised by a top university.
McDaid, who plays with Snow Patrol and writes for Ed Sheeran, was this week made an Honorary Fellow at the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies.
The award came as McDaid's band were revealed to be most-played Northern Irish act of the 21st century.
McDaid was born in Dublin and raised in Derry where he attended St Brigid’s Primary School and St Columb’s College.
He currently lives in London and travels between there and the home of his partner, actress, Courteney Cox, in Los Angeles.
He started out over two decades ago with alternative rock band, Vega4, formed in London, before joining Snow Patrol on guitar, piano and backing vocals.
Snow Patrol were recently crowned the most played Northern Irish act of the 21st century so far, toppling Van Morrison from the pinnacle, with another Derry native, Feargal Sharkey, in third place.
According to the licencing body Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) the band were given most airplay on 'UK' TV and radio since 2000 with big hits like ‘Chasing Cars’ and ‘Run’.
Over the past few years, McDaid has also collaborated with acts such as Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Example, Birdy, Kodaline, Rudimental and Biffy Clyro.
He has worked with DJ Paul Van Dyk, on ‘Time of Our Lives’, the number one club chart single from the Grammy Award-nominated album Reflections.
And he wrote and performed the number one club chart hit ‘Home’ for Paul van Dyk.
First blog
Having been awarded the fellowship at the University of Liverpool, McDaid will now visit the university to give a talk to students and will write blogs for the Institute of Irish Studies website, as well as supporting students by providing sponsorship opportunities for scholarships.
In his first blog for the University of Liverpool on ‘Irelandness', McDaid wrote: “When I received this honour, it sparked a thought in me about what indeed it meant, and how it reflects something of my own journey, one that led me away from the place that I still call home.
“I have been away from Ireland for longer than I lived there, but when I am asked where I am from, I say I am Irish.
“This isn’t just because I was born in Dublin and I grew up in Derry. It isn’t because I have an Irish passport and an Irish accent (albeit one which has been mistaken for that of a Scotsman, a Canadian and at times, even an American).
“It isn’t because my '23 and Me' results tell me that I am 97.8% Irish. I say I am Irish, because I feel Irish. I identify with what I feel on the inside. It is easy, in my case, to join the dots and trace a line back to the root of why I might feel part of this culture, but why should that be the criteria? Labelling is one thing, access is another.
“Is it not a beautiful thing that we have myriad cultures, all over the world, all of them informed by what came before they were designated a label? Appellation is not to define. Just as we are not guilty of the sins of our ancestors, we are not granted sole access to the cultures that formed around them, as they forged their way through the world. All of us are 100% human, but that is where the singularity ends.”
'A felt thing'
He continued: “Irishness, or indeed a kinship with any culture, is not reserved merely for those born on a certain piece of land, or for those who hold a document to say they have the right to declare an affinity. Irishness is a felt thing.
"It speaks to the depth and magnetism of a culture when someone would honour their own connection to it, regardless of whether they have been to the place where it originated, or not. For such a small rock on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, Ireland has a particularly far reach, insofar as her energy and cultural DNA has influenced the lives of many.
“Echoes of Ireland’s voice are found on nearly every corner of the earth and, should you hear it and find harmony, curiosity, or wonder as you walk towards it, she will welcome you in. For culture, unlike people, is not afraid. It exists only as a collective as it lives in hearts, minds and in art. Culture knows that she is in flux and not in ignorant stasis, claimed as a “stuck thing”, felt or known only by those who deem themselves worthy.
“My culture is mine, but it does not belong to me. It is unique because it is experienced through the filter of my life. When I am no longer here, it will be, living in some form, somewhere. Culture is informed by those who feel it, as those who feel it are informed by culture. So if you feel it, if it speaks to who you are, then it is just so. Ireland is an island; Irishness is not."
Eloquent
Director of the Institute of Irish Studies, Professor Pete Shirlow, speaking on the University of Liverpool website said: “Johnny has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Institute.
“When he last visited he spoke eloquently about how Ireland is a society moving into a new era of rights, equality and inclusion.
“He is the epitome of modern Irish culture and will help develop the Institute’s vision of inclusion and the recognition that, on the island of Ireland, identity is hybrid and shifting.”
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