'More interested in acting the clown'

2 COOL FOR SCHOOL? Kevin Sharkey, artist

Nial Mor National School in Killybegs, Co Donegal.

Were you cool or were you one of the nerdy kids?

I was too busy making noise to notice which. I would like to think cool, but then wouldn't we all?

Give us an extract of a school report

"Kevin constantly disrupts class, could try harder but is more interested in acting the clown."

Who was your favourite teacher in primary school? Why?

Mrs Hegarty and Mrs Fox. Mrs Hegarty was an angel. Nothing was too much trouble for her. Mrs Fox was another great teacher. She once took me to see The Sound of Music in Bundoran, which started my love affair with music.

She was a kind, beautiful and thoughtful lady.

How about secondary school? Anyone who you liked/inspired you?

I found school very hard. I didn't believe half of what I was told. I also had so much energy that sitting still for five minutes was impossible. I loved my next-door neighbour, Trot, she was my best friend in the world during that time.

Did you have a nickname?

Sharkey

Crystal Gale - Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.

What posters did you have on your bedroom wall?

We did not have posters back then, and besides my mother would have killed us for ruining the wallpaper with Sellotape.

Who was your first crush?

A girl called Catherine Gallagher. Me and my two mates, Kevin White and Kevin Byrne, used to sit behind her in the cinema pulling her hair. While they had money to buy her Emerald sweets, I was broke and had to resort to offering her Loveheart sweets. Sadly she never read them. I used to go to such trouble to select the ones that said, I Love You.

Who would play you in a movie of your younger days?

Any black kid who can pull of a Donegal accent.

Regrets? Have you had a few?

Yes, I regret that I did not call my lovely sister back three weeks before she died, and I regret calling Pat Kenny wooden, he is a lovely man with a huge talent.

The Kevin Sharkey Gallery opened at CHQ in the IFSC on March 1st. See www.kevinsharkey.com