Quotes from Ardal O'Hanlon

I get up every morning the same as everyone else, and scratch my head and just get on with the job. Whatever that job may be.

I visit a lot of art galleries. I live in Dublin and there's a very good gallery called the Kevin Kavanagh gallery.

The English, being the most practical people in the world, came up with parliamentary democracy and codified football and Cadbury's Creme Egg. And yet they voted for Brexit.

I was quite young when my dad went into politics but, as it went on, I became self-conscious about it.

We didn't have an awful lot of space. There were six of us born within the space of seven or eight years - I was third. I remember sharing a room with one or other of my brothers - at one point we had three single beds in one room.

I spent five years in Dublin as a stand-up, living on pea sandwiches. But at times I quite enjoyed the bohemian penniless existence.

When we left university, in the late '80s, one of the guys had been to the Comedy Store in London, came back very excited and suggested we set up something like it. And so we did.

The beauty of stand-up is that it's very flexible, it's very malleable and immediate. Whatever is in your head that day you can verbalise in some way that night. It's the medium that suits me best.

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.

When you grow up in a border area of Ireland, people are very wary and cagy and keep their head down at all times. Don't speak unless it's absolutely essential, and don't give anything away.

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.

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.

From day one working in TV, I have been very conscious of the way the Irish are represented, In every show I've been involved in I read the script, take out the Irishisms right away and say, 'I'll supply those'.

Running is never fun. Running is something that you do when there's a man chasing you with a knife.

As a comedian, you can't tell people that they're wrong or that they're stupid.

While I loved my family, I would always have this association with my father. I would always be coming up against that conservatism. It was just liberating to be in London.

I have a certain sympathy with politicians having lived with one. I've seen how no matter how earnest or driven or energetic they are, it's still difficult to change things. I have been encouraged to go into politics, but I don't think I could make a contribution, it suits me better to be sniping from the sidelines.

I'm as crippled with doubt as the next actor.

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 crave the variety, I really do. I'd probably say standup as I think that's what I do best, if I may say so. But it can be a really self-absorbed, obsessive way to live your life, whereas doing theatre is very collaborative and creative and intense, I'd hate to miss out on that.

I remember being chronically shy. I came out of my shell a bit when I went to university, but I'm still fairly shy in company.

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.

We thought 'Father Ted' was destined to be obscure late-night Channel 4 fodder and then it works and you don't really know why.

It's quite telling that the really big comedians - like John Bishop from Liverpool, Kevin Bridges from Glasgow, Peter Kay from Bolton - stand out with their strong regional accents.