John Murray, head of the Government Information Services up to last December, has become an actor in Beijing. It came about thus. He has accompanied his wife, Miriam Donohoe, to China and, sitting in Starbucks in downtown Beijing one day, as she was busy being The Irish Times Asia Correspondent, he and Michael Garvey of Enterprise Ireland were approached by a young man. Would he like to act in a major drama for CCTV, the national station? "Yes" said Murray. Did he act? "All the time". Did he have Chinese? "Of course." 24 hours later he was learning his lines in the studio.
But, despite his rugged good looks, we need not be looking out for Murray in the next kung fu blockbuster. He plays a western businessman who does a deal with the wife of a Chinese businessman. He has some dialogue along the lines of "your wife may be a looker but she is a tough negotiator". He also kisses her hand, proposes a toast and dances. As they say in the movies, this could be the start of something big.
Quidnunc is rholohan@irish-times.ie
The Quidnunc column is also available on The Irish Times website at www.ireland.com