He has been famously described as The Man Madonna Took The Piss Out Of, and his run-ins with Bono and Jim Corr are the stuff of legend. Little surprise, then, that none of them feature strongly in gossip columnist turned crooner Jason O’Callaghan’s 200-strong CD collection.
“I’ve got The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Elvis, The Eagles, Dean Martin, Bob Marley, Andrea Bocelli, The Rat Pack, Al Jolson, Michael Buble. Everything along those lines,” he reveals. “I met Tony Bennett in Vicar Street last year, and he told me that the most important thing to do in the music industry is to have fun. He’s 80 and has been doing it for 60 years.
“I’m not an ‘alternative’ person – I wouldn’t be into Harry Connick’s unheard-of collection or anything. I’m a commercial whore. I only believe in commercial music and I only write about commercial people. I wouldn’t have Snow Patrol or Keane in my collection, although my girlfriend Etain likes Keane. I admire real bands and real musicians.”
Freshly returned from self-imposed exile in Cannes, O’Callaghan has decampd to his old stomping ground of Walkinstown, west Dublin.
“I live 10 doors from where I grew up,” he explains. “Despite my success with papers like the The Sunday Independent, which would have been considered high-brow, I still know all the people I grew up with. I’m surrounded by normal people, for the time being. I live on a road in between the two most expensive pubs in Ireland, The Submarine and The Kestrel, and I don’t even drink.”
Currently residing in a five-bedroom property, O’Callaghan has cannily designed a one-bedroom apartment in the ground floor of the house, and rents the first floor out to friends. Though Etain is a regular visitor, O’Callaghan’s apartment is the quintessential bachelor pad.
“The décor is very 'boy',” he muses. “There’s lots of wooden floors and brown leather furniture everywhere.”
Walkinstown might not be the most likely address for a nightlife overlord commonly described as ‘Dublin’s Most Dangerous’, but his unassuming life in the suburbs suits him fine. If anything, living under the radar allows O’Callaghan to work from home on his new Ireland on Sunday column, his property portfolio, his publishing company and his forthcoming Irish Rat Pack album.
“It’s a life of liggers, socialites and invites,” he muses. “I don’t drink, smoke or do drugs. I’m not into cocaine-fuelled hookers in the vein of Hunter S. Thompson. My house isn’t party central, though, when I used to live in the city, it was. When I work, I spend my night shaking hands, and the last thing I want is for people to be here at 6am. It’s an oasis of calm. I chill with the dog and get my work done.”
O'Callaghan was once known for driving an electric blue Porsche and a Harley Davidson about town. Now a (slightly) more modest Lexus takes pride of place in the driveway.
“I have a ’93, four litre Lexus, one of the more powerful cars around,” he states. “It’s set up like an office in there, and tucked up for wi-fi so I can file stories from the car.”
At the outset of his career, O’Callaghan announced to his journalism class that he wanted “to get free stuff, to go to film premieres and night-clubs, hang out with celebrities and to get paid for it”. Yet the many spoils of his ligging pursuits are conspicuously absent from his home.
“I collect artefacts, some of which are very useful,” he explains. “I’d have an autographed copy of Bono’s book, Peter And The Wolf, signed art by Paul Kerr, posters given to me by Christy Turlington, and my photo collection. I have a BP Fallon-ish collection of pictures, things like me and Jean-Claude Van Damme out of our heads in some club, though I don't drink or do drugs."
“I used to get stuff at launches and give them to people as presents,” he adds. “I get stuff I can’t use, like a crate of champagne, as I don’t drink. I’m the opposite of a hoarder – I read books and then throw them away. With the Internet, you don’t need them as much.”
He may have become jaded with the fringe benefits of being a professional ligger, but rest assured that the endlessly ambitious O’Callaghan is ready to dive headlong into another bout with the world of Irish celebrity. The boy, as they say, is back in town, and from the looks of things, he might need a new address to go with his persona.
“I’m selling all my property after Christmas and I’ll be buying a house in Ballsbridge,” he admits. “I’ll be the first person in my family to be posh. I won’t fight it any longer now that I’ve decided to be posh. I’m tired of being a skanger. I’ll sit in my posh house being very posh, and I’ll get my business cards redone so that Dublin 4 stands out. That’s all I’m interested in at the moment. I’ll be pretentious, ‘cos that’s what it’s about. I’ve been a scumbag long enough. For about 32 years. Fuck that!”
Pics: Cathal Dawson