Kirsty! Kirsty! Kirsty! Kirsty!

As new live mix of Fairytale of New York features Scots Pogues fans chanting her name, the late singer's son reflects on her tragic loss

- BY KAREN ROCKETT

Shane MacGowan, promoting their hit 1987 duet Fairytale of New York

ITS annual arrival on the airwaves and in shops is often the first sign of the festive season. But for Louis Lillywhite, the Christmas classic Fairytale of New York holds a more poignant meaning.

He was just 14 when his mother, Kirsty MacColl, who dueted on the hit with Pogues singer Shane MacGowan, was killed in a horrific speedboat accident.

Kirsty died the week before Christmas after being run over off the coast of Mexico on December 18, 2000, as she surfaced from a scuba dive. She was 41 and at the peak of her career following the release of her acclaimed album, Tropical Brainstorm.

Louis and his brother Jamie, then 15, were in the water too when the speedboat entered the protected marine area over the reef on which they had just dived, and ploughed into them. Jamie suffered minor injuries when his oxygen tank was clipped but their beloved mother died instantly after being struck by the boat's propeller.

A coroner's report revealed significant head and chest injuries, nearly severing Kirsty’s left leg and part of her chest.

Now as the 25th anniversary of Kirsty's death approaches, with difficult questions remaining about the circumstances and who was to blame for the tragedy, Louis has poignantly spoken about his mother.

It comes as his father, Kirsty’s ex-husband, record producer Steve Lillywhite, releases a new live mix of Fairytale of New York.

Now 39, a former restaurant owner living in London, Louis says: “It was such a traumatic thing and a lot of what happened is still a blur to me.

“What I can say is it was really grim. I can't remember the exact details of that trip to Mexico but I remember being in the water and thinking, ‘Where's Jamie?’”