Last modified on Tue 19 Jan 2021 09.38 EST
It was 2010 and the world of Scottish theatre was reeling from the sudden death of Gerard Kelly, one of the great panto stars. I called a grieving Andy Gray, who had first worked with Kelly on John Byrne’s Still Life in 1982, to get his reaction.
“He did it with such gusto, such conviction,” Gray said of his friend. “A lot of performers say, ‘Oh, I’ve got to do pantomime again,’ and it’s looked down upon, but if you approach it with any cynicism you make it a difficult job for yourself. You’ve got to approach it with ‘I will have fun doing this.’ If you go on thinking, ‘This will be good fun,’ you get the energy from the audience.”
Marine Minister McConalogue Opens up More Ports to Irish Fishing Vessels on British Register
18th January 2021
Howth Harbour in County Dublin is one of five additional Irish ports where fishing vessels on the British register can land from February 1st
Minister for Marine Charlie McConalogue has come to the rescue of Donegal islanders with fishing boats registered in Northern Ireland who were blocked from landing into their nearest port by the Brexit deal.
Northern Irish vessels and boats owned by fishermen in the Republic which are on the British register were informed that they could only land into two designated ports - Killybegs, Co Donegal and Castletownbere, Co Cork – after January 1st.
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Gray, who started his acting career at Perth Theatre in the late 1970s, shot to fame in the 1980s with the BBC Scotland sitcom City Lights, playing Chancer, the sidekick of Willie Melvin, who was played by Gerard Kelly.
Reruns of the show, which also featured Dave Anderson, Iain McColl, Elaine C Smith and Jonathan Watson, were only recently broadcast by BBC Scotland again.
Gray, who joined the cast of River City in 2016, had previously battled blood cancer after being diagnosed in 2018, but made a comeback in the King’s panto the following year. More recently he had fought against a Covid positive diagnosis.
A former Tiaro mayor who is working on a plan to ensure Tiaro survives the looming bypass, says something needs to be done about the parking lot that is the Bruce Highway . Linda Harris and the Community Working Group will produce a plan to help reinvent the town in a post-bypass world. The main vision is ensuring no businesses will have to close. While Mrs Harris said she can t disclose specifics, the group s plans include big ticket and small ticket items. Particularly incentives to bring people off the highway ⦠(make it) more appealing ⦠like better parking, more RV parking in the town itself, she said.