In search of truth for Kirsty

More than four years on, nobody has been held accountable for the death of Kirsty MacColl. Her family and friends hope to change that, writes Tony Clayton-Lea.

She was, by no great stretch of the imagination from critic or fan, coming into her prime. Born in 1959, the daughter of 1950s folk legend Ewan MacColl and teacher/choreographer Jean Newlove, singer and songwriter Kirsty MacColl had been put through the usual blender process in terms of the record industry, but by the release in 2000 of Tropical Brainstorm, MacColl was back on track.

Widely recognised as the best album of her career, it matched wit with insight, sex with love, spite with understanding, disappointment with resolution.

She had experienced up to this point a frustrating recording career - lots of critical acclaim but few commercial highs. To this day, it's arguable that most people know Kirsty MacColl best for three songs she didn't write: cover versions of The Kinks' Days and Billy Bragg's New England, and her part (a pivotal one) in The Pogues' Fairy Tale of New York.

"She never followed a hit with another hit," says former husband, producer Steve Lillywhite. "She had quite a few hit records, but had the same amount of flops - that next record after the hit never did it for her. And in the early days she never went out and toured, which meant that she was always back at square one."

A period before the "early days" included a tour of Irish ballrooms, organised by her then manager Frank Murray (who would subsequently go on to manage, as much as anyone could, The Pogues). The experience of playing to handfuls of people in vast auditoria around Ireland - in particular at the Parnell Ballroom - put MacColl off touring for years. By the early 1980s, she was a memory on the live circuit; her songwriting talents, however, provided chart-hit material to the likes of Tracey Ullman (the superlative teen angst love song, They Don't Know), while her voice graced many recording sessions overseen by her boyfriend and then husband Lillywhite.

When sons Jamie and Louis came along, her recording career was put on hold. "We had children very quickly," says Lillywhite, "and that seemed like a good enough reason to not think of touring. But after we'd recorded Fairy Tale of New York, The Pogues went on tour to Germany and asked her to come out to Berlin, just for the Berlin show, and then she could go home. So she went out, did the gig, and I'll always remember her phoning me up after the gig and - with all The Pogues behind her - asking me if I minded if she did the whole tour. I didn't see her for another 10 days, and that was the beginning of her coming back. It was a win-win situation for her, because when she came on stage everyone knew that Fairy Tale of New York was going to be next, but she wasn't the centre of attention."

For reasons no one would have wanted, MacColl has been the centre of attention for the past four years for something other than her music. Following the release of Tropical Brainstorm, the success of which prompted renewed media attention and even tour dates (including one in Dublin's HQ, now Spirit), she decided to bring her sons to the island of Cozumel. Also with her on the trip was her partner, musician James Knight (MacColl and Lillywhite had divorced in 1995).

Known as Mexico's crown jewel, Cozumel is located 12 miles off the Yucatan peninsula and boasts the second-largest coral reef chain in the world. It was here on December 18th, 2000, while scuba-diving with her sons and their divemaster in the restricted area of Chankanaab Reef, about 300m offshore, that MacColl was killed by a powerboat owned by Guillermo Gonzalez Nova, chairman of the holding company Controladora Comercial Mexicana, which is the second-largest retail operator in Mexico after the WalMart chain. More than four years later, no one has been made accountable to the satisfaction of MacColl's family and friends.

From her home in Ealing, London, Kirsty's mother Jean tells The Irish Times of the progress of the campaign known as Justice for Kirsty (JFK). In her early 80s, Jean's tireless and tenacious demeanour has driven the campaign from the start. Support from friends and musicians Bono and Billy Bragg and actor Tracey Ullman - along with thousands of fans - has helped maintain the thrust.

"Support for the campaign is going terrifically well. As regards our activities, in relation to prosecution, it's also going very well now. Initially, we started with no help at all - nothing from the Mexican authorities or the Foreign Office or the British government. But that's all changed. We've spoken to the head of the diplomatic corps, Sir Michael Jay, and we have the support of the Foreign Office. We have even gone to the attorney general in Mexico. I believe that Mexico's President Fox is aware of what we're doing."

Jean states that if the present campaign drive doesn't work, she's going to the International court of Human Rights, and "from there we can bring a case against the state of Mexico".

But, as Jean says, JFK needs all the help it can get. "The fans have been writing to their MPs, and we want more people to do that to publicise the campaign. Publicity helps the funding, which comes from the fans. A woman in Lincolnshire ran a coffee and croissant morning, which raised £300.

"People ask me what they can do - well, they can look at the website, and they can send for leaflets, which have the bare bones of the case, and a postcard already addressed to President Fox. He has probably received about 10,000 already, but the more the better."

Political pressure is maintained from media exposure, says Jean. Some weeks ago, the documentary Who Killed Kirsty MacColl? was broadcast on BBC terrestrial television (following its première on BBC4). Yesterday, From Croydon to Cuba, a three-CD anthology of Kirsty's music, was released.

Every little bit of exposure will help, says Jean, to cut through the bureaucratic red tape which she says she and other JFK personnel have encountered in the past four years.

While the CD set will raise MacColl's profile higher in certain political circles than it has been since her death, it might also arouse interest in her back catalogue, which remains (despite its relatively poor commercial placing) one of the strongest of any UK female songwriter of the past 20 years. Not for her the witterings of the pop brigade; rather, in no uncertain terms, she made highly intelligent, often autobiographical correlations between male and female interaction; the pull and push of life in all its contradiction and dysfunction.

"She would always say that the songs were about everything," recalls Lillywhite. "Maybe there was a bit of me in there, maybe her whole life. She was certainly happier than a lot of her songs made her out to be, although after we were divorced I think she started analysing what she did more. She once said that a lot of the songs might actually be about me, but I'm not sure if that was true. How would I rate her as songwriter? Oh, I think she's up there with Shane MacGowan and Elvis Costello. She was a poet. Bono's a great songwriter, as such, but a lot of what Kirsty would write would be more poetic."

She was a frighteningly honest songwriter, too, says her former husband.

"She could nail what she wanted to say in one sentence. She could be the most vitriolic, put-down person you could ever meet. If she wanted to say something that cut you to the bone - both in her songs and as a person - then she could. The term 'fiery redhead' was probably invented for Kirsty."

Lillywhite's involvement in the JFK campaign is mainly one of support. "Any campaign like that can only be driven by someone who has lost a child, because the love you feel for your children is quite frightening. To Jean, Kirsty is her little girl. That's how we feel, no matter how grown up our children are."

Says Jean, "In a way she spoke for all of us and she was not afraid to say how things were - she didn't cover anything up. That's one of the things that people liked about her. She was very open, very frank, honest, and she could quickly see through anything that was false."

The music on From Croydon to Cuba proves this with its songs of shrewd insight, feminine instinct, determination for fair play, and a few swear words. No matter how frustrating things could be, says Jean, she never gave up trying to see the good in people and in certain situations.

"I'm in my 80s, and I'm not giving up either. You do these things for your children. We just battle on."

From Croydon to Cuba: an Anthology is out now on EMI, as is the DVD retrospective From Croydon to Cuba: the Videos. For further information on the JFK campaign visit www.justiceforkirsty.org