Dunphy gets last word in Kenny face-off

EAMON DUNPHY’S hands shook at the start, but after a dignified interview with Páidi O’Sé, the nervousness disappeared and he began to smile as if he meant it.

The former soccer player, biographer and journalist joked with guests and invited them for pints in Lillies Bordello and Reynards afterwards something you could never see Pat Kenny doing.

"All the hype is over. I forgive everyone," he joked in his early lines. Even Gay Byrne it seems, with Dunphy paying tribute to the king of Irish chat shows.

There was no Roy Keane but instead we got a 'man of granite' as his first ever guest: Kerry manager Paidí O'Sé.

Paidí did not provide Dunphy with any dramatic announcements about quitting as Kerry manager.

"Football has been extremely good to me and I owe an awful lot to Kerry. But I haven't made any decision yet," he said.

Paidí squirmed in his seat when Dunphy replayed his encounter with an angry Kerry fan in Croke Park. But the tension was broken when Dunphy joked that he was the first man in Croke Park that Paidí didn't get back straight away.

Dunphy promised "dirty, dirty sex" and we got it, in the form of eyebrow raising footage from Sex in the City. It got even better with an informal sing-along featuring Mundy, Paul Brady and Joe Dolan which got the crowd in the Helix theatre going.

That setting certainly helped the camera seemed to float around the vast arena compared to the more claustrophobic Late Late show studio. The Late Late Show started half an hour later and began promisingly with an inspired sketch from the Apres Match crew. Then it went downhill with two songs from Westlife and a high-profile but dull interview.

Meanwhile, Dunphy had interviewed Candice Bushnell, the creator of Sex in the City and was introducing Robert Fisk, the veteran Middle East correspondent who had flown in from Beirut for the show. You began to feel that Dunphy's relaxed, silly but serious formula might actually work. He tapped into the a newly prosperous twentysomething audience with the Last Word. There's every chance that these people, now moving into their 30s, will stay in on Friday night to watch him.

It started to feel like the Last Word, when he urged viewers to text in their valued views. Much will depend on how long Dunphy can attract a stream of high-profile guests. But on this evidence, the man with the €400,000 salary may be worth it.