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EVERY WEEK SEEMS to bring a bigger and bigger news story. But we’ve got to go all the way back to the early 1990s to find a moment that really rocked the nation.
Bigger than Cromwell’s conquest, worse than the Famine and more tragic than Thierry Henry’s outstretched hand – at least, according to one eminent turkey.
The incident, of course, was the flight of Zig and Zag to UK TV screens – abandoning RTÉ for fame, fortune and Chris Evans on Channel 4′s Big Breakfast show.
Long before Brexit threatened to sour relations between Ireland and the UK, it was the exit of the two beloved, anarchic characters that made headlines here.
Fame
Zig and Zag, created by Ciarán Morrison and Mick O’Hara, became a firm fixture of The Den alongside Ian Dempsey from 1987 onwards, later appearing alongside Dempsey’s successor Ray D’Arcy.
But the two excitable aliens eventually found the bright lights of London too tempting. In 1992, the pair joined the ground-breaking (and fondly remembered) Big Breakfast show.
The decision ultimately brought the pair to new levels of fame – a hit single reached number five in the UK charts in January 1995, while they even received somewhat dubious business lessons from Donald Trump.
But the exit from RTÉ did cause something of a stir. In 1993 the Irish Times reported – tongue firmly in cheek – that the arrival of Zig and Zag in the UK, following on from Dustin’s general election antics, should “cause a few shivers around the Palace of Westminister”.
“The potential merchandising opportunity in the British market is ‘huge’, according to informed sources, and has already made a millionaire out of the man who merchandised Roland Rat,” the paper reported.
“In Ireland, Zig and Zag merchandising, of which a percentage goes to RTE, has reached saturation point.”
An interview with the pair in December 1993 suggested they weren’t agonising too much about jumping ship.
“Dustin is still there, he’s getting on fine without us. He rings us in London sometimes,” Zig said.
“He has the sock monster with him now. The sock monster says things like ‘flap, flap, flap,” Zag added.
The pair also revealed that their faces were on 200 million packets of Golden Wonder crisps and were planning to get into ice cream merchandising too.
It wasn’t bad for a pair that started out as a frenetic pair of sidekicks on The Den. Still, bitter feelings remain among their co-stars – who never received the same kind of welcome from across the Irish sea.
“We have the two British lads, the lads who sold out on Ireland, Zig and Zag. I’d say they’re out of money so they’re back brown nosing again.I sort of get on with Zig, I don’t really get on with Zag, he actually looks like the coronavirus,” Dustin told TheJournal.ie recently ahead of The Den’s reunion for RTÉ Does Comic Relief.
Show-business, eh?
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Another false promise from the government and the HSE.. surprise surprise
@LFCMAD_94: Typical. Blame the HSE and our government fir a worldwide shortage of the flu vacine.
@Alan: did I blame them for shortages? I blamed them for promising things they will never deliever
@LFCMAD_94: typical person who didn’t read the article before posting
@Alan: don’t think it is the HSE or government fault.. BLAME the pharmaceutical company’s greed.. the uk seem to have enough. What are we being charged? What are other countries being charged? I smell foul play.. and greed .
The ceo of hse Paul Reid should be sacked. He comes on TV as if he runs the hse without fault. He is a W a s t e r with no health background and get paid an absorbent amount to push paper and read out prepared statements on tv that are written for him. He can’t even get the flu vacine right,when he new this was coming .
A total waste of money that a monkey could do his job.
No issue here rang my Dr a week ago for flu jab had my appointment Tuesday gone. Both my parents only had to wait a few days my friend only had to wait a few days and got both his flu jab and pneumonia jab.
@Tom Harpur Photography: Someone give this man his medal.
@Tom Harpur Photography: lucky you.. none in the north east
If you could get through to the gp it might help.
This country is the biggest joke. Encouraging everyone to get the flu vaccine and not even having enough for the most vulnerable. Absolute shambles
@Toni: try actually reading the article.
Flu cases are going to plummet this year anyway with all this social distancing. Flu is not as contagious as COVID.
@J: and it’s the same cohort that is at risk from Covid. So they are unlikely to be hit with the flu and Covid at separate times
@Anne Marie Devlin: why?
@J: Most flu variants would be just as contagious as Covid, but dont spread as widely due to limited opportunity. The majority of people infected with Covid can be walking around and interacting with others while having little or no symptoms for the entirety of their infection. The majority of people infected with a flu virus will have nasty, fast onset symptoms which means they will be at home in bed and interacting with very few within hours of the symptoms first appearing. I’ve only had flu twice in my life with the last time being roughly 25yrs ago, but its an illness you don’t forget in a hurry.
“In contrast to COVID, children are vectors for flu”. This is ridiculous. Of course children spread COVID. Not their fault but they spread everything. As a mother myself, I have first hand experience of this. Not saying we should close schools but thinking that kids don’t spread it is serious denial.
One thing this pandemic showed was that the medical system in France isn’t quite as good as people thought it was, but we can still get the flu vaccine free at any pharmacy….
@David Stapleton: only if they have a supply!!
Any update on the flu vaccine supply situation? Looks like loads of vulnerable people are not going to be able to get it this year
have your say