Shane MacGowan: Tory members caught dancing to Fairytale of New York during lockdown 'really funny'

Shane MacGowan. Picture: Victoria Mary Clarke

Pogues star Shane MacGowan has said he thinks it is “funny” that British Tory party members were caught breaching covid lockdown rules by dancing to Fairytale of New York.

This week, a video showing 24 party members drinking and dancing to the hit Christmas song at the height of the pandemic went viral.

The secret celebration took place at their campaign headquarters in London on December 14, 2020, when the majority of the UK was barred from having large social gatherings.

The video footage shows party goers drinking and eating from a buffet while dancing to Fairytale of New York.

The group includes two people named on former British prime minister Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.

Mr Johnson has been found guilty of misleading parliament over the scandal.

However Shane MacGowan, who co-wrote the famous track, has found the controversy hilarious given his dislike for the party at the heart of the controversy.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, his wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, revealed her husband said the episode was “really funny”.

MacGowan has previously been scathing about the Tory party's approach to the Troubles and last year said he "was ashamed I didn’t have the guts to join the IRA".

The Conservatives now face the threat of a new probe by police in the UK over their rule-bending event.

Meanwhile, Shane MacGowan is expected to attend another type of party tomorrow when his sister launches her book, The Graces, in Dublin.

Set in Dublin at the turn of the 20th century, it will be Siobhan MacGowan’s second novel and the book launch takes place on Thursday, June 22, at 6.30pm at Easons on O’Connell Street.