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  • NEWS
  • Martin wades into abortion debate

    As the Dáil committee hearings continue on the abortion bill, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has waded into the debate saying it is important that Christian believers "be, and seen to be, on the side of life, especially when life is most vulnerable".

  • Payment cuts see families pay rent shortfall

    Limits on rent supplement payments set by the Government are forcing thousands of families to make undeclared top-up payments to landlords to secure places to live.

  • WORLD
  • Anger as North Korea launches another missile

    North Korea fired a short-range missile from its east coast, a day after launching three more of these missiles, a South Korean news agency said.

  • How Star Trek predicted the future

    WHEN Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first dreamed up the concept of a television show based in the unexplored universe of Outer Space in 1964, the world was a very different place.

  • BUSINESS
  • Warnings over future of eurozone

    The eurozone is heading towards a break up unless there are moves towards much closer political and fiscal union, according to chief economist with State Street Global Advisers, Chris Probyn.

  • Bruton defends corporate tax rate

    Ireland will be able to maintain its current corporation tax code in the face of international pressure to prevent multinational corporations avoid paying their fare share of tax, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton said yesterday.

  • SPORT
  • Mayo’s statement of intent

    Galway 0-11 Mayo 4-16 Five minutes to go in Salthill yesterday and James Horan was still cajoling his men to sew it into Galway.

  • Wilkinson inspires Toulon to glory

    ASM Clermont Auvergne 15 Toulon 16 Not for the first time this season, a matchday performance and the result have made a mockery of the statistics.

  • LIFESTYLE
  • What Lenny Abrahamson did next

    LENNY Abrahamson has directed three feature films: Adam & Paul, Garage and What Richard Did.

  • Why do women love to dress up?

    Trying on clothes, said Ewart, produced "sensations which bring deep peace and perfect contentment" to the female mind.



 




Beginner’s Pluck

Ian McPherson

After college, Ian moved to London and did children’s and street theatre. That developed into fringe theatre, and he had a play on in the West End. He moved into stand up comedy, because he liked the idea of being the writer, director and performer in one. “It was exciting,” he says. “But then stand up comedy became commercial and didn’t suit my style so I decided to write a books using the skills I had learned.”

Who is Ian McPherson ?

Date/place of Birth: 1951/Birmingham, but brought up in Dublin.

Education: St Joseph’s Christian Brothers School in Marino. UCD. English Literature.

Home: Glasgow’s West End.

Family: Married to the poet Maggie Gibson; two lovely daughters, and a mother in Dublin.

The Day Job: Full-time writer.

Hobbies: Looking for work,

Favourite Writers: Maggie Gibson, my wife. I also like PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brian and Woody Allen.

Second Novel: I’m working on a play at the moment. It’s a light-hearted comedy about suicide, terminal illness and murder. And I’ve been asked to adapt the book for a TV comedy.

Top Writing Tip: The first draft is always ‘shite.’ Don’t worry about it. Rewrite.

Website: www.irishgenius.me

THE DEBUT

The autobiography of Ireland’s greatest living genius. Fiachra MacFiach. Edited by Ian MacPherson. Published by Gnarled Tree Press, €12.59; Kindle, not available

Fiachra is a genius who wanders his way through life not recognising the mayhem he is causing. He destroys the lives of those around him, but doesn’t notice. This autobiography, which in effect is two books in one, shows him almost redeemed by the love of a child. But he manages to escape from embracing real life, ensuring that his genius is safe.

“Comedy, to me, is the gap between what we think we are, and what we actually are. I took from myself and others around me, and created as flawed a character as possible. ”

The Verdict: Brilliantly funny. We all know Irish males like Fiachra. There’s one in every audience at every festival. Home

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