Suzanne Harrington: The Irish artists on Ed Sheeran’s tour did a very traditional Irish thing — they said no

Perhaps we should thank Robert Kraft for turning the Ed Sheeran debacle into an international talking point, says Suzanne Harrington

While Ed could have emerged from this heroically and created a cultural pivot, it’s been his support acts who have instead caused the pivot, says Suzanne. 

I jumped the gun with this column, writing it an hour after reading Macklemore’s initial Instagram post about being kicked off the Ed Sheeran tour. Along the lines of, Oh Ed, with your red hair, and your Irish passport and your cultural identification as one of us. What a crushing disappointment.

About Ed’s terrible choice, and the terrible statement he made about being “apolitical” and how in an instant, he demolished his nice-guy vanilla vibe image. In 2026 nobody with a brain or a heart has the luxury of being “apolitical”.