STEVE COOGAN has admitted that he's applied for an Irish passport.
The English actor, famed for his comedically inept broadcaster character Alan Partridge, described himself as "half-Irish" and admitted to growing fond of the country while spending summer holidays there as a child.
"My Irish passport will be arriving shortly. That’s not a joke," he told Donald Clarke in an interview for Saturday's Ticket magazine, according to the Irish Times.
Coogan's mother is Irish-born and grew up in Co. Mayo, while his father is of Irish descent. Coogan himself however was born in Lancashire, England.
Last year he developed an Irish character, Martin Brennan, who appeared on a show hosted by Coogan's creation Alan Partridge.
Brennan was, in effect, a parody Irish equivalent of Partridge.
As Brennan, he sang Come Out, Ye Black and Tans and as a result became something of a YouTube sensation.
Coogan says his mother was "concerned" at the Black and Tans sketch, but "was relieved that people thought it was great".
"There was a joke there: I wonder if we can get an Irish rebel song on prime time television," Coogan said.
The 54-year-old made no bones about his dislike of both Brexit and the Conservative Party in the UK, and as such, Coogan choosing to get more in touch with his Irish side isn't all that surprising. There's not such thing as Brexit and Boris Johnson over here, our political situation is a lot more straightforw- oh wait a minute.
