The £64,000-question winner from last week's Who Wants to be a Millionaire? attributes his success to quiz technique honed on Challenging Times, the RTE/Irish Times third-level competition.
"I learnt my buzzercraft on Challenging Times and that is what gave me the edge in the knockout stages on WWTBAM? I was 0.2 seconds faster than the next contestant and that's how I ended up sitting opposite Gay," explains Paul O'Leary.
O'Leary has been involved in the Challenging Times competition on four occasions while studying at UCC. He scooped his £64,000 prize money with help from former Challenging Times team-mate Martin O'Donnell, who was the "phone a friend" support at the other end of the line when Paul needed help with the £32,000 question. O'Donnell, captain of this year's UCC Challenging Times team, jumped in with the maiden name of President McAleese before Paul had a chance to offer him the four choices.
They agree that, while the money is welcome, they get their own buzz from just taking part - by taking part in quizzes and, more importantly, from answering questions correctly. "That's why we love Challenging Times," O'Donnell says. "You get a real adrenalin rush when you press the buzzer and answer a question before you even realise your brain knows what the answer is."
Paul plans to take a holiday with some of the money - and the UCC quiz buffs are planning a big night out to blow some of the winnings.
