AUSTRALIA'S first saint is destined to become a cult figure in Ireland, Sinead O'Connor has predicted.

''Mary MacKillop is going to become a very important figure, I'd say, because she f---ing shopped a paedophile priest,'' the Irish singer told The Age yesterday. ''She was way ahead of her time. She withstood the persecution [of the church authorities who excommunicated her]. She was brave enough to stand up to them.''

Sinead O'Connor in town for the Melbourne Festival Credit:Rodger Cummins

Although there's been some debate about the precise role MacKillop played in reporting the sexual abuse by a South Australian priest in 1870, there's no doubting O'Connor's commitment to the cause. She's been standing up for the victims of such abuse for decades, and in 1992 famously tore up a photo of the then Pope on Saturday Night Live to protest against the Vatican's complicity in covering up paedophilia in the ranks.

Though that unforgettable gesture brought a sudden end to her American career, she has no regrets and no intention of letting up.