The Ballad Of Bill Guiney

Bill Guiney was one of the definitive punk rockers in Belfast. In the early days he was a scowling outsider, angry and disaffected at a time when the city was brutalised from all sides. He came from The Village and he found his community at the Harp Bar on Hill Street. My first memories of the guy date from this period. I was standing outside the notorious punk joint when I heard a whizzing at my ear. It was a metal bar, windmilling down the road. Guiney was just saying hello.

He featured in the opening scenes of the movie Shellshock Rock, his head shorn, lost in that jack-knifing dance that was launched by John Lydon but perfected at the Harp. Bill dabbled with a series of bands, but he was more recognised as a keeper of the spirit. He was scornful of the poseurs, but a loyal mate and in the following decades, he acted as a mentor to the young bands that took their first musical efforts in Lavery's back bar.

He was part of the the stage crew at the recent Prodigy gig when his illness became apparent. Seven weeks later and Bill succumbed to pancreatic cancer. They held a wake for him on Saturday night in the underpass by the Albert Clock. And yesterday he was cremated at Roselawn.

Lots of his comrades were there: members of Rudi, The Outcasts, The Defects, Terri Hooley and later generations of punk contenders. Tommy Doom spoke well, citing Guiney as a mentor and a mischief maker, and afterwards, more hilarious stories were traded. We exited to a Lee Perry production, 'Four And Twenty Dreadlocks', a combination of childlike wonder, musical bravado and sweetness. It suited Bill fine.

There wil be a celebration of his life at the Menagerie on Sept 10, with music from Shame Academy, Tin Pot Operation and others.