My holidays

Actor Owen Roe

Actor Owen Roe

What was your best holiday?Two years ago we went to Australia for a month. My wife Michele and I had wanted to go for a long time and we brought our daughter and son (now aged 18 and 13). We went to Singapore for two days on the way over. We started in Port Douglas and went to the Daintree Rainforest, where we took a boat trip with crocodiles either side of us. We went on to the Great Barrier Reef, where we swam with amazing tropical fish. We ended in Sydney. It was a real adventure, and it still comes up in conversation once a week.

What was your worst holiday?Michele and I were coming back from Italy. But arriving at the airport we were told that we were too late for the flight, even though it was an hour before take-off. We argued the toss with the guy in the booking office and were very holier than thou. So eventually they booked us onto the next flight. It was only then we realised the clocks had gone forward and it was our mistake. We were speechless for two hours on the plane – we had been so self-righteous at the airport.

If budget or work were not a restriction, what would be your dream holiday?I'd bring my family and 20 friends to Richard Branson's Necker Island. We'd empty his fridges of champagne on the beach.

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If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?My family and David Attenborough, because he could narrate the holiday no matter where we went.

What's your favourite place in Ireland?I've great memories of Ballyvaughan, Co Clare. Michele and I used to go there a lot when we were first going out.

Your recommended holiday reading?A few years ago I read Sebastian Faulks's James Bond book Devil May Care and since then I take an Ian Fleming Bond with me when going away. I hadn't read them since I was a teenager but they're real no-brainers.

Where will you go to next? If we were to go away somewhere it would be Lombardy in northern Italy. I've been to Italy countless times. I love the food and the people, and would go back at the drop of a hat. I'd like to go to northern Italy because the food is a bit different and the climate a bit cooler.


In conversation with GENEVIEVE CARBERY

Owen Roe stars in Glengarry Glen Ross, which opens at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, on Tuesday