Judge was right to put me off the road for having no car insurance, says McSavage

The RTE funnyman was banned from driving by a judge after being found guilty of seven separate motoring offences.

McSavage (46), who is son of former minister David Andrews, was pulled over by gardai in Dublin City Centre last year after breaking a 50kph speed limit.

He appeared last week in front of Dublin District Court where he was slapped with the lengthy ban and a €250 fine.

And the well-known comic today said he highly regretted his actions, telling the Herald: "It was a really irresponsible thing to do."

Charged

McSavage, with an address at Kingsland Parade, Portobello was charged with the multiple motoring offences at Wolfe Tone Street, Dublin 1 on February 26, 2011. He claimed that he was driving back from a gig when gardai pulled him over.

He was convicted by Judge Bridget Reilly of seven breaches of motoring laws, including having no insurance or NCT as well a failure to produce relevant documentation at a garda station.

Speaking to the Herald today, McSavage said he "held his hands up". "I was on my way back from a gig ... I was driving without licence and insurance, it's very irresponsible, and I got disqualified rightly for two years and that was the right thing to do [by the judge]," he said.

Put to him that driving with insurance is a serious offence, Mr McSavage replied: "Oh Jesus, I completely regret it, and it wasn't like I was pissed off [with the ban], I was expecting it."

McSavage is well-known for his Temple Bar busking routine in which he improvises gag songs based on observing passers-by. He devised, wrote and starred in two seasons of a comedy sketch show, The Savage Eye, on RTE TV.

The comedian, who is a cousin of Late Late Show presenter Ryan Tubridy, recently had his performance on the Saturday Night Show pulled during rehearsals.

hnews@herald.ie