No pints of Bass for Bertie in Charlie series

Gus McDonagh as Bertie Ahern in 'Charlie'

By Alan O'Keeffe

No pints of Bass consumed during the filming of Bertie Ahern's character's scenes in the RTE series Charlie.

Actor Gus McDonagh revealed Bertie's favourite tipple gets no screen time in the two episodes in which Mr Ahern is portrayed in the mini-series.

The 32-year-old actor said he was "delighted" to be given the part of Bertie and he will make his debut in the second episode on Sunday night.

The actor refused to confirm whether the Bertie character will be wearing an anorak, which was the wily politician's trademark garment for the entire 1980s.

"I didn't do an impersonation of him. There's been a lot of impersonations of him over the years but I steered clear of that," said the actor.

"I've never met him. I spoke with a lot of people who met him or knew him. I read a lot about him and I watched lots of footage," he said.

Fascinating

"To me, it was a period piece. . . a fascinating time in politics. It was just before my time - a time when the nation was still young," said the native of Portmarnock, Co Dublin.

He refused to give away any spoilers about what the script has in store for Bertie's character.

Gus had a small role as a customs officer in the smash RTE hit Love/Hate and he was delighted to work again with Love/Hate stars Aiden Gillen (inset as Charlie) and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, who plays PJ Mara.

Gus first appeared on RTE television as a young thug in a drama series The Big Bow Wow.

He appeared in Fair City as a heroin addict for a few episodes before he was murdered.

He studies drama at DIT and appeared in seven or eight productions with the Barnstorm Theatre Company for young people in Kilkenny. He will appear on RTE later this year in a drama written by Wexford playwright Billy Roche.

The second instalment of Charlie opens in 1982 and shows how Charles Haughey seized his opportunity to regain power.

hnews@herald.ie