''Bull Island'' was an Irish television and radio

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

show broadcast on

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís � ...

and later on

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for th ...

from 1999 until 2001. Featuring a cast of seven

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

comedians and impressionists, the show, which aired for half an hour weekly, satirised many aspects of Irish life. ''Bull Island'' was created by RTÉ Producer/Director John Keogh who brought Michael Sheridan, Alan Shortt & Gary Flood together to devise & co-create the format. Some of the notable women in power at the time, such as the then Cabinet Minister,

Mary O'Rourke Mary O'Rourke (; born 31 May 1937) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Leader of the Seanad and Leader of Fianna Fáil in the Seanad from 2002 to 2007, Deputy leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2002, Minister for Public ...

, and the

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...

's partner

Celia Larkin Celia Larkin, also known as Cecilia Larkin, is a former Irish civil servant and was the partner of the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Since 2020 she has worked for Limerick City and County Council as Limerick City Centre Revitalisation Manager. Relat ...

were played by a man, and there were regular depictions of deception and skulduggery in the Dáil bar. The opposition were usually portrayed as bumbling incompetents. Other sketches included a regular pastiche of Paddy O'Gorman and his shows which consist of interviewing people at random - ''Bull Islands Paddy O'Gormless would do similar, but with ever more inane interviews. A favourite sketch, which became known as the show's signature, was an impersonation of a long-running ad for Irish discount electrical retailer PowerCity, where actors looking surprisingly like those in the adverts, wearing the same bright red jumpers, would wax enthusiastic about prices ending in 99

pence A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...

in "Bull Island City". This evolved into a stream of products costing "99.99.99" as the series progressed. As a result, PowerCity removed the pence from all their prices, and regularly charge round tens or hundreds for products instead of 99s. Although the show was met with good reviews and ratings in its first season, the reception to later seasons was mixed and the show ended in 2001, shortly before the 2002 general election. The same team appeared providing a 30-minute radio version of the programme on RTÉ radio within weeks. Some of the actors behind some impressions include: * Alan Shortt -

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins ( ga, Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, and broadcaster, who has served as the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011. Entering national politics throug ...

Gerry Adams Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020 ...

, Michael Noonan,

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland), Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence since Decembe ...

Frank Twomey Frank Twomey (born mid-1950s) is known as the man from children's television programme ''Bosco''. His lesser known credits include other screen appearances and appearances on stage. Twomey went on to appear on ''Bull Island'', particularly as Ma ...

Willie O'Dea Willie O'Dea ( ; born 1 November 1952) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick City constituency since 2011, and previously from 1982 to 2011 for the Limerick East constituency. He has served as Min ...

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* Michael Sheridan -

Marian Finucane Marian Finucane ( ; 21 May 1950 – 2 January 2020) was an Irish broadcaster with Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). She began working with the national broadcaster in 1974, starting as a continuity announcer. She was the first presenter of ''L ...

, Duncan Stewart, George Lee,

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Jackie Healy-Rae John Patrick Healy (9 March 1931 – 5 December 2014), known as Jackie Healy-Rae, was an Irish Independent politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry South constituency from 1997 to 2011. Early and private life Healy-Rae was ...

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Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his significant success as an individual, he is one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts. His first album, ...

* Pakie O'Callaghan -

Charlie McCreevy Charles McCreevy (born 30 September 1949) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2004 to 2010, Minister for Finance from 1997 to 2004, Minister for Tourism and Trade fr ...

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Eamon Dunphy Eamon Martin Dunphy (born 3 August 1945) is an Irish media personality, journalist, broadcaster, author, sports pundit and former professional association football, footballer. He grew up playing football for several youth teams including Stella ...

Charlie Bird Charles Bird (born 9 September 1949)In his semi-autobiography ''This Is Charlie Bird'', he states he has two birth certificates, one saying he was born 4 September 1949, the other 9 September 1949. He chooses to celebrate his birthday on 9 Sept ...

, Brian Farrell * Elva Crowley -

Mary Harney Mary Harney (born 11 March 1953) is an Irish former politician and the current Chancellor of the University of Limerick. She was leader of the Progressive Democrats party between 1993 and 2006 and again from 2007 to 2008, resuming the role aft ...

, Power City Girl, Helen Dillon * Michelle Costello -

Mildred Fox Mildred Fox (born 17 June 1971) is a former Irish Independent politician. She was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency from 1995 to 2007. Private life She was educated at St. Kilian's Community School in Bray and is a graduate of U ...

Miriam O'Callaghan Miriam O'Callaghan (born 6 January 1960) is an Irish television current affairs presenter with RTÉ. O'Callaghan has presented '' Prime Time'' since 1996, and her own summer talk show, ''Saturday Night with Miriam'', from 2005 onwards. In th ...

* Gary Flood - Paddy O'Gorman,

Daniel O'Donnell Daniel Francis Noel O'Donnell, MBE (born 12 December 1961) is an Irish singer, television presenter and philanthropist. After rising to public attention in 1983, he has since become a household name in Ireland and Britain; he has also had cons ...

Dickie Rock Richard "Dickie" Rock (born 10 October 1936) is an Irish singer. He experienced much success on the Irish charts during the 1960s, but has continued on as a popular live act as well as occasionally hitting the charts ever since. Early fame Rock ...

''Bull Island'' was written by: Catherine Maher, Pearse Lehane, Richard Carroll, Elva Crowley, Anne Geraghty, Pakie O'Callaghan, Alan Shortt, Michael Sheridan & Gary Flood. Produced by: John Keogh, Alan Robinson. The series on RTE Player since Christmas 2021 to celebrate 60 Years Of Television.

External links

IMDb Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bull Island (Tv Show) 1999 Irish television series debuts 2001 Irish television series endings Cultural depictions of Taoisigh Irish television sketch shows RTÉ original programming