Mayor of Baltimore DID NOT sign MacGowan petition

The Mayor's office clarified to hotpress.com that while Mayor O'Malley was a big fan of Shane MacGowan, he would not comment on the matter and that they were "a private individual's personal matters".

Mayor O'Malley has genuine rock 'n' roll credentials however as the front man of the 7 piece O'Malley's March. In fact the band are making their way to our shores in July where - if their US shows are anything to go by - they'll close their set with the MacGowan penned, Pogues classic, "Streams of Whiskey". O'Malley's March have released 4 albums, with their latest being a 15 track live extravaganza.
On the political front, O'Malley (a member of the Democratic Party), elected at the age of 36 in 1999, was one of the youngest "big city" mayors. On taking office in 1999 he made the increasing provisions of drug treatment a cornerstone of his crime reduction policy. Over the 4 years from '99 violent crime was reduced by 30%.
Over the last 4 years O'Malley has received glowing reviews from the likes of The Baltimore Times: "This question - are you better off? - has become the universal standard by which elected officials are judged. After Martin O'Malley's first two years as Baltimore's mayor, the answer is an unqualified yes" (December '01); and The New York Times: "Mayor O'Malley is credited with progress on the crime busting pledge that was the keystone of his election campaign".
Perhaps our own Royston should take notes!