Walsh was born into a family of partially
Irish descent in east
Manchester, the oldest of four children. He was educated at the
University of Salford, but
dropped out in 1986. He held a variety of jobs, including working in a sausage factory and a bakery. In 1991 he was tied up at gunpoint in an
armed robbery whilst working on a
Post Office counter. He has worked as a freelance writer and performance poet since 2004, His writings have also featured in many magazines. His first collection of verse,
Sex & Love & Rock&Roll, was published in 2015. In May 2017, he came to wider attention for delivering his poem "This Is the Place" to the crowds gathered in
Albert Square in central
Manchester on 23 May for the public vigil following the
bomb attack at the Manchester Arena. His performance was described as "the perfect symbol of the pride, passion and defiance of Manchester's people". The poem had been commissioned in 2013, by the charity Forever Manchester. He later read the poem at the One Love Manchester Concert, held in benefit of the attack's victims and their families. It was discussed alongside poems written about earlier atrocities committed in Manchester, including
The Masque of Anarchy by
Percy Bysshe Shelley, on BBC Radio 4's
Front Row on 24 May 2017. ==Family==