A charge of casual trading without a licence against comedian Dave McSavage was struck out yesterday after he paid €100 to charity.
McSavage, whose real name is David Andrews jnr, and who is a son of former minister for foreign affairs David Andrews, pleaded guilty to selling DVDs of one of his live theatre gigs in Dublin city centre on December 15th last.
Dublin District Court heard he was in Grafton Street giving one of his street performances and a large crowd had gathered to listen.
Garda Gavin O'Reilly directed him to leave and he finished up the performance. But members of the public started to buy his Vicar Street DVDs and he was asked by gardaí if he had a casual trading licence. He did not and was arrested.
Garda O'Reilly said McSavage was co-operative and appeared to have been "a victim of his own popularity".
Judge Anne Ryan said she took into account that McSavage had no previous convictions and Garda O'Reilly's evidence. If McSavage paid €100 to charity, she would apply the Probation Act. McSavage's solicitor, John O'Doherty, noting his client had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, asked that the charge be struck out.
Judge Ryan agreed to do so after McSavage had paid over the sum in court.
Afterwards, McSavage said he accepted gardaí had to do their job because there were a lot of "really old laws" they had to implement. "The first time I was arrested was for gathering a crowd with intent to collect alms."
He would continue his street performances because "tourists arriving into Dublin, if they are not into drinking, what else have they got? I do a great thing, I make people laugh, and laughter is a good thing - it releases the same chemicals in the brain as an orgasm."
Asked if he might get a rap on the knuckles from his father, he said: "Yeah, my dad, my poor old dad. As much as he says, 'No, I love you, David, and support you' and so on, I can see in the back of his eyes, he's going, 'Would you stop doing that on the street?'
"But you know, he can say that, but you know, like, I'm 40, I want to do my own thing, daddy. I don't want to be a politician, I want to be a ballet dancer."