Son of Irish singer Sinead O’Connor found dead

The 17-year-old son of Irish musician Sinead O’Connor has been found dead, two days after he was reported missing.

Shane O’Connor disappeared on Thursday from Tallaght University Hospital in Dublin, prompting a widespread appeal for information on his whereabouts by Irish police after he was reportedly spotted in the capital on Friday morning.

Sinead, 55, who converted to Islam in 2018 and changed her name to Shuhada Sadaqat, tweeted: “My beautiful son, Nevi’im Nesta Ali Shane O’Connor, the very light of my life, decided to end his earthly struggle today and is now with God. May he rest in peace and may no one follow his example. My baby. I love you so much. Please be at peace.”

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She had earlier posted at length on Twitter imploring him to come home. “Shane, your life is precious. God didn’t chisel that beautiful smile on your beautiful face for nothing,” she tweeted.

https://twitter.com/OhSineady/status/1479090923548119043?s=20

https://twitter.com/OhSineady/status/1479090359380725764?s=20

“My world would collapse without you. You are my heart. Please don’t stop it from beating. Please don’t harm yourself.”

The singer’s management agency 67 Management asked for people to show “respect and appreciation” for the family “at this most difficult time.”

Sinead had spoken previously in public about her son’s mental health issues, including asking the public for help locating him in January 2019 when he was 14, and asking for fans to pray for him in February 2021 after “a hideous day from hell.”

She also tweeted criticism of the hospital Shane had been at, saying: “Like, how has a seventeen-year-old traumatised young person WHO WAS ON SUICIDE WATCH in Tallaght Hospital’s Lynn Ward been able to go missing??? Hospital of course so far refusing to take any responsibility. Anything happens to my son on their watch? Lawsuits.”

https://twitter.com/OhSineady/status/1479095304381157380?s=20

The Irish Health Service Executive said in a statement: “We cannot comment on individual cases when to do so might reveal information in relation to identifiable individuals, breaching the ethical requirement on us to observe our duty of confidentiality.”