A biography for Ardal O'Hanlonhasn’t been written yet.
“I think Irish people pride themselves on being at the forefront of technological industries, things like the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, all those hi-tech industries, we're always there or thereabouts.”
“Johnny Giles is my favourite Leeds player, without doubt. He was a fierce competitor. I met him once, at a black-tie event in Dublin, which was one of the great nights of my life.”
“Mum was a teacher before I was born, but never worked after she had kids. She was too busy looking after us and making kedgeree.”
“People love authenticity in comedy and, coming from a region, you get a very strong sense of place. They can place you straight away, so they can relax.”
“Dragged out of your bed at the age of seven, my mother screaming, six kids under the age of 12. I'm not equating my experience with the people who lived in Northern Ireland. But my dad was always out and about late at night, and I could not go to sleep until I knew he was in.”
“Carrickmacross always had a border mentality. Smuggling would have been a big thing there in the past; there would have been spillover from the Troubles in Northern Ireland.”
“I think we all get a bit bogged down in our lives and our own careers and we have to take a step back and get a sense of proportion and perspective on things.”
“In terms of being typecast, if you do something like Father Ted that infiltrates the public's imagination to the extent that it did, I think realistically you're not going to be asked to do something radically different from that very often. But it's not a problem.”
“I visit a lot of art galleries. I live in Dublin and there's a very good gallery called the Kevin Kavanagh gallery.”
“While I try to retain the slightly odd perspective and some of the innocence, it's really liberating to be able to talk/rant about all the stuff that bothers me.”
“I think a certain amount of depression is sort of a normal state of mind to have. Deep depression is another story - and I wouldn't say I've been quite there, but you know I have been quite down at times, I have not wanted to leave the house for days on end.”
“I have other careers in terms of stand-up, stage acting and writing, so I don't feel too hidebound by that, but I do quite like playing those warm roles.”
“There are lots of channels and lots of companies looking for content, as they say, but it's quite difficult to get things off the ground.”
“I've been a Leeds fan for as long as I can remember. When you are about five or six, you adopt a team - obviously, I didn't grow up in Leeds. I grew up in a small town on the Irish border, and most of the people my age were Leeds fans, both then and now.”
“I think my first girlfriend and I hardly spoke to each other in the year we were going out. In fact we never even spoke to each other to formally break it off. For all I know she still thinks we're together. Maybe in a parallel universe we're very happy.”
“I think making a documentary gets you out and about more, with people. With stand-up, you're talking at people. With documentaries you're talking with people, and you're listening a lot more.”
“Irish politicians are very accessible to the public, just the messenger boys for the local constituency.”
“Where I come from people are very deadpan with a dry humour that I suppose rubbed off on me.”
“I am going through a Neil Young phase. I also listen to a lot of alternative country, a band called Smog and Bonnie Prince Billy, which is very dark and twisted.”
“I read one of the funniest books last week by Don DeLillo. He wrote this book, 'Amazons' many years ago, under the pseudonym Cleo Birdwell. The book is very funny but I also think it's funny that he denies any involvement with it.”