The Newry busker who hit out at the council for telling him to stop busking has received an apology from the local body.
Last week, Shane McGirr posted a widely-shared video on social media lambasting Newry, Mourne and Down District Council after an official told him to stop busking in his usual spot on Hill Street.
Mr McGirr claimed that the council tried to “dictate to me” and “gaslight” him into not busking in the street, by accusing him of performing illegally.
He then took to social media to tell the council to “get some perspective” and called on the body to focus more on crime and less on buskers.
A council spokesperson later said they were responding to complaints from businesses in the area in relation to buskers using amplifiers.
In a video update posted on social media yesterday (Thursday), Shane says he has finally received an apology from the council, thanking all media outlets who helped share his story.
He said: “The council have sent their apologies to me and I’ve got to give a special thanks to the chairperson of the council, Pete Byrne. He really did go to bat for us.
“He opened up a dialogue with me and he spent 25 minutes on the phone to me the other day saying that busking is not banned, buskers will not be bothered, and that they want to continue allowing buskers, allowing musicians, and embrace that, which is everything that we wanted.
“He sent his apologies for how that certain individual treated myself and treated other buskers, so it’s a win.”
However, Shane concedes that some complaints made to the council were true, as other buskers in the town had been “blasting F-bombs and cursing” which created problems with local businesses.
He added: “I can understand that. My problem with it was that they come up to me and approached me in such an authoritative way and basically spoke to me like I was nothing.
“We need to have a very healthy working relationship with not just the council, not just ourselves, but with the businesses around Hill Street. The woman failed to do that. She came like the iron first and tried to say I was illegal, I was wrong wrong and started trying to say there was a blanket ban on busking.
“The Council have stated to me very clearly that there will be no bothering buskers, that there will be no issues with people busking in the town. And pretty much that they were sorry that I got treated in this way and that it wasn’t my fault.”
Shane also says he will teach new buskers the tips of the trade, ensuring they become responsible and sensitive buskers, free of charge.
“I’m a busker through and through and I have such a passion about busking. It helped me and saved me so many times in so many ways over the years that I have such an appreciation for it.
“Ironically, this situation has made a whole new appreciation from people that wouldn’t have even appreciated it at the time.
“For the new buskers coming to the area, for anybody interested in busking or any of that, I am going to offer my services to show you how to do it effectively and appropriately.”
