Question of taste: The Young Offenders' Michael Sands

Michael Sands is an actor from Cork, who is probably best known as Jock’s dad in The Young Offenders. He’s currently playing Professor Saxenfon, ‘the baddie’ in the Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime at the Everyman in Cork, which runs until January.

Best Recent Book you’ve read:

It’s got to be ‘ The Rules of the Road’ everybody has to read it and from what I can see everybody takes different meanings from it!

Best recent film you’ve seen:

Joker, it seems to be like Marmite love it or hate it. I liked it.

Best recent show you’ve seen:

I’m a big rugby and Ross O’Carroll Kelly fan so I thoroughly enjoyed Breaking Dad at the Opera House.

Best piece of music you’ve been listening to lately (new or old):

I was driving a lot recently on tour and rediscovered the song ‘Overkill’, by Colin Hay from Men at Work.

First piece of music that moved you:

In first or second class our teacher played Prokoviev’s ‘ Peter and the Wolf’where all the characters are represented by musical instruments. It blew me away.

Best gig you’ve ever seen:

Billy Joel supported by Peter Kaye at Croke Park. I love the two of them.

TV viewing:

I love Line of Duty and I’ll throw on a half hour of Emmerdale after the show before I go to sleep.

Radio Listening:

Newstalk is constantly on in my house and car. Off the Ball is a brilliant sports programme with cracking journalists.

Best ever celebrity encounter:

I met met Justin Hayward and his wife after a show I did in the states and we started chatting and had a few drinks. The best thing about him was he didn’t tell me who he was and I didn’t know it was only later I found out he had written ‘Forever Autumn’ and was in The Moody Blues. We are still friends. Legend!

You can portal back to any period of human cultural history or music event?

I’d like to have been around the first time any of the famous operas were heard and performed for the first time in the lavish theatres.

Acting heroes:

Anything with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau... The Odd Couple ,The Apartment, Plaza Suite.

You are the king of showbiz — what’s your first decree?

More money for the arts in schools, it’s been proven as such an important part of development in young peoples' lives.