Charity no laughing matter for Brendan O’Carroll
But the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) were not joking when it selected the Mrs Brown’s Boys star.
“If this was an award for best TV sitcom, I would know exactly what to say,” said Brendan, who was accompanied to the ceremony in Dublin by his wife Jenny, his daughter Fiona, her husband Martin Delaney, and his son Eric.
The foundation’s chief executive, Tina Roche, said they had found that Brendan’s philanthropy went back years before he found fame and fortune.
“So he has always been a philanthropist,” said Ms Roche.
As well as the SVP, Brendan supports Irish Autism Action, Debra Ireland, the Grace Nolan Foundation, and Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Dublin.
Brendan, 59, said the SVP had been very good to his mother, a widow with 11 children living in Finglas, Dublin.
“Every Friday night Uncle Vincent and Uncle Paul called up to the house to see if she was all right,” he said.
“They would pay the ESB bill or give her some shillings for the gas and some broken chocolate as a treat.
“We never had a bad Christmas and as you get on later in life you realise, ‘oh, that was thanks to them’.”
Last Christmas, Brendan donated 2,700 turkeys to SVP to make sure those struggling to make ends meet could enjoy themselves.
He got the idea from a businessman called Ed Mirvish who gave turkeys to poor people in Toronto, Canada.
“Everyone struggling feels that they’ll be grand if they can just get past Christmas,” said Brendan.
“People are not looking for handouts; people are not looking for anything for free; they are just looking for a leg up.
“I have been on an amazing rollercoaster. I have been up, been down, been around, and been sideways, but when I had to rescue myself from it I always had someone to give me a leg up, a lift.”
As for Mrs Brown’s Boys, the show that picked up the National Television Awards’ best comedy award for the third year in a row will go on. “We worked too hard at making it successful to end it,” said Brendan.
The BBC wanted more Christmas specials and they would keep on making them as long as the network judged them funny enough to broadcast on Christmas Day, he said.
However, Brendan said the reason he worked as hard as he did to get this far was to work less, not to work more.
“I have got five fabulous grandchildren and Jenny and I want to spend more time with them. So the only thing success can really buy us is more time.”
Having created one of Ireland’s favourite gay characters in Rory Brown, Mrs Brown’s flamboyant son, Brendan said he was happy for Health Minister Leo Varadkar that he had recently revealed he was gay.
“I think Mrs Brown knows her son, Rory, is gay. She does not actually know what gay is but that will do her.”
Brendan said Mr Varadkar had great talent and could be a future leader of the country.
“His party is not one I would be involved in but, regardless of that, I don’t care where the talent comes from as long as it is put to good use.”
But, he said, there would have to be “huge reform” within politics before “serious people” like him could get involved.
As for running in the next general election, Brendan said he did not see a party with values and beliefs that would attract him.
Asked about rising levels of child deprivation, as revealed in official statistics this week, Brendan said we should all be hanging our heads in shame about that.
“At the height of the boom there was one year where we lost 45 children due to malnutrition,” he said, adding that school should be completely free and more children should be given a free breakfast at school.
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