Singer CMAT says ‘fake version' of Irish culture is being ‘built up' by English
The 29-year-old, whose real name is Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, is part of a number of Irish acts to rise to popularity in recent years alongside the likes of indie rockers Fontaines DC and rap trio Kneecap, which has prompted a surge in interest in Irish culture in the UK and US.
Speaking to Glamour UK, the Crazymad For Me singer said of the situation: 'I didn't relate to any of it, like, why am I seeing Claddagh rings everywhere? The GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) jerseys? Why is everyone pretending we had this exact same childhood?
CMAT on the cover of Glamour UK (Ruth Ginika Ossai/Glamour UK/PA)
'There's this very romantic vision of Ireland but I grew up in a place where it's not very fun to grow up. This fake version of our identity was being built up by Americans and English people and claimed for themselves.'
The singer is due to release her third album Euro-Country later this year, and says the record features a song about a performance at Radio 1's Big Weekend – when the BBC had to switch the comments off due to people body-shaming her – called Take A Sexy Picture Of Me.
She told Glamour UK: 'That song is about getting fat-shamed on the internet all the time. I wanted to really dig into commercial attractiveness and how women are pruned into this marketable product until they turn about 27.
'I genuinely didn't care that people got so angry that I thought I was sexy, but it forced a lot of 15-year-old girls who love CMAT, who might even be bigger than me, to witness a level of vitriol against a woman's body against her will.'
The full interview with CMAT can be read in the May digital issue of Glamour UK which is online now.
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