Pee Flynn

A man who suffered terribly from foot-in-mouth syndrome

On the evening of January 15th, almost 26 years ago to the day, Padraig (Pee) Flynn took the stage on the Late Late Show and delivered a set of remarks so jaw-dropping they left the studio audience—and the entire nation—utterly flabbergasted. There was no social media doom scrolling then; if you are of a certain age, there was a good chance you were watching the Late Late Show that evening. In a classic case of giving a politician enough rope, and they will hang themselves, that’s exactly what Pee Flynn did. The nation watched in bemused horror at Flynn’s hubris. It was probably the most ill-judged interview given by any Irish politician until Brian Cowen's infamous Morning Ireland interview after a Fianna Fail “think-in” that turned into a drink-in.

Former Fianna Fáil TD and EU Commissioner Máire Geoghegan Quinn said of the interview, "Someone forgot to change the batteries in Pádraig Flynn's smoke alarm, and while sleepwalking through a performance on 'The Late Late Show' he managed…