Ronan Collins apologises for playing edited version of Fairytale of New York

The broadcaster who is set to retire from RTÉ on Friday played the song on his Radio One show on Thursday.

The edited version of the song excludes the word ‘f****t’ which is a slur that has been historically used as in cases of homophobic abuse towards members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Each Christmas discourse erupts online between those who believe that the word should not be played on the radio and those who think it should.

After the track Collins told his audience: "I want to apologise for playing that version, that was the radio edit where it didn't have the original words in it, and I have never ever played that version before, and I should have listened in advance because I always play the original.”

"Out the door with that auld PC nonsense,” he added.

Kirsty MacColl, who sang the word as part of a verse in the song, changed it herself during live performance of the track on Top of the Pops in 1992.

She did not skip the line, instead changing it to “you’re cheap and you’re haggard.”

BBC Radio 1 first censored the song back in 2007 by bleeping the word.