Brendan O'Carroll believes Father Ted awoke the British to Irish comedy and tellingly, it was the first thing he said when asked to account for the hard-earned success of his Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie, which had its premiere in Dublin last night.
Beaming and humbled by the reception, O'Carroll (58) seemed to glide the red carpet of the Savoy cinema ahead of Britain and Ireland opening this weekend.
"Father Ted opened up an awful lot of doors for us . . . Irish comedians are doing really well over in England so I don't think there's that translation problem," he said. "We never ever thought about Anglicising it in any way, we always played it exactly as it is. I think that is the appeal of it."
0 of 3
Characteristically colourful in dress and tone, the comic celebrated the first of a trilogy of movies with family and friends and an army of loyal fans screaming in the rain.
Father Ted references are inevitable given the success, although Frank Kelly (or Fr Jack) lent some modest context. "These comparisons just come out of the air. I mean, nobody knows what's going to happen. There may be another howler of a comic series coming . . . there's no way of telling."
O'Carroll's sister Eilish, meanwhile, pointed out that Mrs Brown was hanging up her dress for good before the BBC stepped in five years ago. Then came the Bafta win and now the big screen.
Other big names attending last night included Brian Kennedy, Shay Given, Ronnie Whelan, Katie Taylor, Katherine Lynch, Shane Byrne and Bernard Dunne.
O'Carroll may be modest, but he's no fool. Director Ben Kellett said the first thing the veteran comic told him was: " 'Okay, we're going to make three TV series, we're going to win a Bafta and we are going to make one, two or three movies'. That was five years ago and it's coming true. He is just one of those people."
