Colm O'Rourke says he believes there are a lack of 'characters' in Meath

Meath Football manager Colm O'Rourke has said he believes there are fewer 'characters' in Meath than there was when he was growing up.

The broadcaster and Tommy Tiernan’s former Geography teacher was the first guest on his show on Saturday night and he looked back on his early life, local characters in Navan and his experience with the GAA.

At one point during the interview Tommy asked O'Rourke what characterises the people of Meath?

Tommy qualified his question saying: "My memory of growing up in Navan is that it was a town where the word was very strong, where you had to be verbally adept, I didn't find it a physically rough town but you had to have your mouth ready for action, a town that enjoyed the use of language!

Speaking about their native Meath, O’Rourke noted there are fewer ‘characters’ now than in his youth and he believed education is behind it.

"A lot of them were people who lived in cottages or worked on farms- and they may not have education beyond their primary schools but to me, a lot of them were the most clever people of all that I met."

“I think education has taken away a lot of the characters,” he said, adding of he ‘characters’ he remembers fondly: "They were wonderful characters to meet in the pubs or around the place. And they had an earthliness and a worldliness about them that you didn’t get with more educated people.

“I think education has brought a bit of a boring similarity and conformity in a lot of people. Those types of people had no conformity. They had a great sense of the word as mood. They could read the mood of the place and they had great wit.”

In July 2022, O'Rourke was appointed manager for Meath's senior football team. He also enjoyed a highly successful football career, and he previously worked as a teacher and later principal at St Patrick's Classical School in Navan.

O'Rourke also previously taught Tommy Tiernan and fellow comedians Dylan Moran and Hector Ó hEochagáin while at the school. On tonight's show, the former Sunday Game analyst spoke about his personal life and coaching Meath.

Tommy Tiernan then shared a joke with his former Geography teacher about their school days, saying: "I wish one day when you where throwing me out of your class, I’d have said one day you will be on my chat show."