Chris O’Dowd tonight became a Freeman Of Roscommon, accepting the honour by joking “I was not aware Roscommon had enslaved me!”.
The actor was accompanied to the ceremony by wife Dawn O’Porter, who is expecting the couple’s first child, and kept the crowd laughing with a typically hilarious speech.
The Boyle man did not hold back during his address, poking fun at the region’s shortcomings after learning that Roscommon has the longest life expectancy in all of Ireland.
“I know everybody is surprised. I like to think it is because Roscommon people have more to live for but it is probably because without an A&E Department we are too afraid to die”.
”It’s a joke. What we lack in clean water we make up for in dirty jokes. I know councillors… I know… it is nobody’s fault.”
However, The Irish Times reports that O’Dowd’s comments were “a love letter” to his home county and he vowed to tell his child about his experiences growing up there.
“I will tell her how lucky her Dad was, how in an ever-changing Ireland, Roscommon has stayed true to itself. I love it. It is not a rich man’s weekend getaway, it is a breeding ground for artists and entertainers like John Reilly, Maureen O’Sullivan and and John Carty.”
