Michael Noonan recalls Christmas presents of old at craft shop launch in Limerick

As The Late Late Toy Show cast a magical spell over the nation last night, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan recalled how Santa had unleashed him as Limerick’s answer to gunslinger Billy the Kid.

Mr Noonan was speaking of his fondest Christmas Day boyhood memory, which was discovering what a generous visitor from the North Pole had left under the Christmas tree at the family home in Loughill when he was seven.

He said: “I got two cowboy guns, a belt, and holsters. That Christmas I rode the range. I was one of the hottest cowboys in Loughill.”