Mark Feehily

Mark Feehily

Markus Michael Patrick Feehily (born 28 May, 1980 in Sligo, Ireland), better known as Mark Feehily, is a member of the popular Irish vocal pop group, Westlife.

He has two younger brothers named Barry (b. 1986) and Colin (b. 1990). His parents are Marie Feehily (Verdon before marriage) and Oliver Feehily.

In Westlife's music, Mark is distinctive for his rich, soulful voice, which is prominently featured in all of Westlife's songs. He is generally considered the second lead to Shane Filan's first lead. Nicky Byrne and Kian Egan comprise the rest of the group.

Private life

Feehily publicly came out as gay in the UK tabloid The Sun, and announced his long-term relationship with Kevin McDaid, a member of the now-defunct British boy band V. In an interview he said, "My life has got umpteen times better. My sexuality doesn't define me as a person, but it's a huge part of anyone to be open about it. It's changed my life totally as I feel so much happier and at ease. It's the best thing I've ever done." Unlike his band mates, for years Feehily did not discuss his private life.

Feehily later told Gay.com UK, "I am gay, and I'm very proud of who I am."

In yet another interview, Feehily told the Sydney Morning Herald that despite the fact that the majority of Westlife's fans are female, there had really been no negative reaction. "I am so much happier now and I think our fans can see that," he said. "Through the years of getting to the point where I wanted to come out, I had to go through every kind of emotion, but I can honestly say that the day before I came out, I didn't care what the reaction was going to be. That was the hardest point to get to."

Feehily also said that while he did not intend on getting married right away, he is happy to know he could form a civil partnership in Britain with the recent passing of the Civil Partnership Act.

External links

• MarkFeehily.org
• Official Website
• Westlife-Forever Fansite
• Simply Feehily