He was probably the first member of the Oireachtas to recognise the value of tweeting but now former Green Party TD and Senator, Dan Boyle looks set for another first - the first former TD or Senator to record his own album.
"It probably is a first - I'm not aware of any other Oireachtas member, past or present who has recorded an album - I know Silvio Berlasconi recorded an album of Italian love songs but I've no desire to be compared to him," laughed Dan, a second cousin of Britain's Got Talent star Susan Boyle..
Entitled Third Adolescence, the album consists of 14 original songs all penned by Dan who, in a previous existence prior to entering on to the political stage, played bass with a Cork combo, Bluespring in the late 1970s who once almost got to play with U2.
"We used to play stuff by The Jam and Madness but I suppose my ultimate musical heroes would be The Beatles while I also admire songwriters like Ray Davies of the Kinks, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and Neil Finn from Crowded House.
"I’ve written all the songs on the album - some of them I wrote a long time ago, some I’ve written since the general election - making an album was something I always wanted to do but I never got the time or opportunity until after the election," he said.
Recorded with former musical director of the Late Late Show and unsuccessful PD candidate, Frank McNamara at his studio on Co Meath, Third Adolescence features an anti-war song, War Games, a satirical semi-political number Vote for Me and several personal songs.
"The album includes five ballads which are more personal songs - one reviewer described them as mawkish or maudlin but what can you do, I’d like to think they are romantic but there you are ....," said Dan philosophically.
Having just stood down as chairman of the Green Party, Dan is currently working on a book about the party's time in government provisionally titled Without Power or Glory while he is also setting up a green think-thank to help stimulate public debate on environmental issues.
So were his fellow Green Party TDs and senators surprised to learn he was recording an album? "My colleagues in the Green Party always knew I was interested in music and they knew I’m not the most staid of personalities so no, they weren’t hugely surprised."
For further info on Dan Boyle’s debut album which was launched at The Cruiscin Lan in Cork this evening visit www.thirdadolescence.com
