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ATHLETICS:WE’RE COMING to the end of our first term at the Gaiety School of Acting. Frankly, the only lesson in there for me so far is the best actors, just like the best athletes, are essentially mad. As in bonkers, cracked, bananas, crazy as a loon, nutty as a fruitcake – and all in a good way. Daniel Day-Lewis always said the main reason he feels so at home living in Ireland is that whenever people here accuse him of being mad they mean it as a compliment. Most athletes I know are no different. Call them nuts, call them insane, and they take that as a mark of approval.

Jonny McQuaid travels down from Monaghan every week, and is, by his own admission, completely mad. From day one he stood out as one of the best actors in the class, and if he doesn’t go on to make a name for himself on the stage I’ll be terribly disappointed. There is no strict admission policy at the Gaiety, but this is no place for the sanely-hearted. Over the past couple of months I’ve seen the best minds of the class slowly lose their minds. In the beginning most of us were questioning the sanity of even being there. In more recent weeks, the creative madness has been disarming – and that appears to be the secret of all the best actors.