`I wanted to present a picture of somebody who deals with the world in an optimistic way, who has a very good sense of his own limitations within that world, and how to deal with those," says Shay Healy of his documentary, Small World, which kicks off RTE's Against The Odds series about people striving to live ordinary lives in the face of adversity.
Healy's gentle, half-hour film tells the story of Chris Burke, a three-foot 10-inch jobbing actor and entertainer who lives in Finglas with his wife Kath and their four children.
"It was a great exercise for me because it was the first time I've got to make something approximating a film rather than a TV programme," says Healy, who first met Burke as a guest on Nighthawks. "Chris is an instinctive performer, and he seemed to blossom with the camera on him. He has worked as a wrestler, in panto and on films such as Braveheart and Willow. He did run up against some politically correct people who felt that he shouldn't be used as a leprechaun, which is such bullshit. As he says himself, he's an actor and being the size he is means he can do things other people can't."
Chris and Kath Burkes' seven-year-old daughter Sinead has inherited his restricted growth gene, which in the film seems to be a source of strength to her father. "You could see that as illogical but there's a great consolation for him in being able to share the idea of being small," Healy says. "It also gives him that role of protector, which is obviously important.
"I think it comes through very strongly in the programme that he believes he can't ever start feeling sorry for himself. It was important to make a film that he would be happy with, that would represent him well, and for me to make something that would show that I have a visual storytelling ability, that I could perhaps use on more than a documentary. Maybe I can start joining all these five-year-olds who are making movies!"
Together with his partner, Marion Cullen, Healy is also developing a couple of feature film ideas.
He hugely enjoys the challenge of directing, but admits he misses being in front of the camera, and it's clear that his disappearance from our television screens still rankles. "I was never going to be Gay Byrne or Pat Kenny, but I thought I was a very good winger for RTE," he says. "I suppose I lost the support and faith of various people in there, who for whatever reason didn't feel I cut the mustard. But not one person who I worked with on Nighthawks is now working in RTE. That shows the fundamental lack of awareness at that time of the need to develop people, although I think they're trying to correct that now. It was a big loss for me, but that's showbiz. It was a bruising period, and there were several years of licking the wounds quietly, before coming back."
Singer, songwriter, chat show host, columnist and novelist, Shay Healy is now concentrating on his work as a producer/director, making documentaries on subjects from Phil Lynott to the Billy Barry stage school. "I know it infuriates some people when you don't pigeon-hole yourself, but I don't take on anything that won't stand up to public scrutiny. I would have a great affection for people who go out there without a safety net. It's been a roller-coaster in terms of financial security, but I wouldn't have it any other way."
Healy has directed another of the programmes in the series, about Kilkenny-born doctor and singer Ronan Tynan, and his next project, Mosney Memories, is about the generations of Irish people who spent their summer holidays at Butlin's. "Hopefully, if the quality of Small World shines through, we can start getting bigger commissions. In the past few years I suppose I've been less aggressive in terms of saying here I am, and now I think it's time to turn the heat on again. I know I can do this, and I enjoy it. It's a great challenge to tell somebody's story in 25 minutes, to make it coherent and to serve your subject well."
Small World is on RTE 1 on Thursday at 8.30 p.m