Quotes from Deirdre O'Kane

I knew I couldn't do what Eddie Izzard does, so I just tried to write some stories that were based, or partly based, on my own experiences.

Waiting to be hired, as an actor, especially, is soul-destroying... There is always something you can do... Create something, a play reading... Anything. But don't rely on other people to come to you. Put yourself out there.

I would have benefited a lot from proper training. I could have done with a strong wake-up call about getting jobs.

I love motherhood. I certainly wasn't aware of any mothering instincts until I had babies. I wasn't a person who desperately wanted to have kids, but you don't get it until you do it, and, suddenly, this nurturing instinct exists.

Growing up, I was your classic Catholic Irish kid. I went to mass every Sunday. Then in secondary school I went to boarding school, and there was mass seven days a week before breakfast - it may have put me off!

You wouldn't expect a cattle dealer to sit down at a grand piano and play it beautifully. That's my father.

I'm a great lighter and lover of candles, particularly fragranced ones, as I'm kind of addicted to scent.

It wasn't that I left acting; it's just that I put it aside while I set about becoming a comic.

Most people haven't seen my dramatic work, but I did 10 years of theater before I ever became a comic. I'm just better known for comedy.

I spent seven years in clubs in England, Australia, etc. Not all comedians cross over to sell out in a theatre.

I love peppermint tea, as it's much nicer than taking anything chemical for settling your stomach.

I can't function if I don't have tea. I don't know whether it's psychological or a real necessity, but I just need it.

I'm doing my best to be mindful about how I'm living: to be kind and patient, and not to impose a bad mood on somebody else. Being mindful is as good a way to be spiritual as anything else.

I have no proper money to invest!

My salary swings an unbelievable amount. When I had Holly, I took seven months off, so my salary was very low. It fluctuates wildly. No one pays you for the period you spend writing. I am certainly not rich.

I could probably die happy with a cheeseboard and a glass of French red wine - that's my idea of a perfect dinner.

I am pretty much as you see me. I don't have deep, dark depths and go home in despair.

I get a good colour in summer but go really pale in winter, and it genuinely doesn't suit me, as people ask me if I'm ill. As well as making me look a bit better, I often have to be tanned in the middle of winter to do a show or programme, so I've road-tested every fake tan on the market.

Many's the audition I waltzed into unprepared and wondered why I didn't get it. I learned the hard way.

With a new baby, you have a bad day now and again because you're particularly tired, but most of the time, you're fine. You spend a lot of your time trying to figure out how you can get more sleep, but really, you're better off just giving up and admitting that you're not going to, so forget about it.

I think boarding school does give you an independence.

I'm a shopper but not a big money/label-y shopper. It makes me a nervous wreck.

I kind of flew into a panic that somebody would have already owned the rights, because Christina Noble's life is such a good story. It took us two full years to get Christina to agree and sign the rights.

I can make my living out of Ireland, but the reason I came to London was that I felt I'd gone as far as I could go in Ireland.