PJ Gallagher: 'I still find it hard to believe people because addiction tells so many lies'

'For most of my life, I've just been a little stupid and a lot lucky'

PJ Gallagher: "I do think I’m just a naturally very lucky person and I’m not sure why or where that comes from."

Yikes, where do I start? I was adopted, moved to Dublin, went through three foster houses that I only just learned about, and eventually ended up with my parents and lived with them and my sister in a 1980s government mental health experiment where six very mentally unwell people came to live in our home too. Unsurprisingly, it was pretty dysfunctional and there was a lot of booze. We also had a dog.

One of my earliest memories is the day my sister arrived home for the first time. She was adopted too and I was never told a sister or another baby was coming to the house. Just one day, I was told that I had a sister and then we all ate spaghetti hoops or something. Like, nobody was pregnant or anything and I certainly don’t remember any baby prep happening at home. One day I was an only child and the next day I had a sister and spaghetti hoops.