Sinead O' Connor

Younger readers may have trouble placing the woman in the attached picture: she's an occasional musician by the name of Sinéad O'Connor, possibly best known for her chart-topping cover version of Prince's 'Nothing Compares 2 U' that, somewhat shockingly, was two decades ago.

Over the years since, Sinéad has continued to sporadically release records; her life's work, however, has been stirring it up big time. This has primarily involved giving the Catholic church as much grief as possible, from ripping up a picture of then Pope John Paul II on US network TV to retiring from the music industry to become a priest. We're skipping any number of memorable incidents, mind: that rather public spat with Mary Coughlan (the one who isn't the Tánaiste) over her relationship with Coughlan's ex boyfriend, coming out as a lesbian, shopping Shane McGowan to the cops for alleged heroin abuse and embracing the Rastafari faith.

By her own admission, however, she enjoys the quiet life these days, as a middle-aged mum of four. What a thrill, then, to find her reborn as the author of Very Angry Letters to the papers: on Thursday, she dropped the Indo a line, sharing her thoughts on the Bishop Of Ferns' plea for cash to pay his dioceses' legal bills. "If Christ was here,' she mused, "he would be burning down the Vatican. And I for one would be helping him.' Sinéad has finally found her calling. Can that Liveline appearance be far off?