Music for a country in need of calming

It’s 20 years since A Woman’s Heart captured the nation’s feelings, becoming one of the country’s best-selling albums. David Young recalls 1992.

Ireland was a troubled place 20 years ago. Unemployment had hit unprecedented levels. The North was no closer to calming its internal strife as tit-for-tat killings populated the news. The Loyalist and the IRA campaigns were at full tilt. Mary Robinson took the office of Irish President to Belfast for the first time, despite the Irish and British governments’ dismay. She even shook Gerry Adams’ hand.

The rest of the country agonised over the Maastricht treaty and being European. And while we did, in sailed a soundtrack that instantly captured the mood of a nation in need of calming. The album A Woman’s Heart, originally just an experimental line-up of musicians, stilled the country’s anxieties.