Charlie McCreevy addressed the Political Discussion Society at NUI Galway on Monday and was asked about his Bull Island character played by Packie O'Callaghan. MrCreevy said his good friend, Dermot Morgan, had done a good impression of him in his day, as had Jonathan Philbin Bowman, but no one could take him off as well as O'Callaghan, who not only looked like him, but sounded like him as well.
He first heard O'Callaghan on radio about four years ago doing a spoof Dail speech. "I was listening for a few minutes before I realised that I couldn't remember actually making it." Then it dawned that it wasn't him at all but an impersonator.
Charlie then told the students about the Cheltenham stunt on the Gerry Ryan show last year which, as reported in Quidnunc, had half the country in stitches and the other in a rage.
Despite having to release a statement declaring that it had not, in fact, been the Minister for Finance proposing such outrages as raising the retirement age to 80, McCreevy said he was happy that O'Callaghan was making a good living out of impersonating him.
Quidnunc can be contacted at rholohan@irish-times.ie