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Niall takes stand SEO MAN - NIALL TOIBIN TG4, 10.30pm FORGET Tommy Tiernan - this is the man who first put Irish stand-up on the map.
Throughout his long and celebrated career, Niall Toibin has established himself as an accomplished actor, a superb raconteur, a mordant satirist, a gifted linguist and a pioneer of Irish comedy.
He has entertained us now for the best part of half a century - but he has also challenged and provoked his audiences. He has not been an easy person to get to know - but he has also inspired great loyalty and admiration amongst his friends.
Toibin has also been a resolute and consistent enemy of hypocrisy - and has been able to identify many of its Irish forms with merciless precision.
He has always been a controversial figure,and in fact the Irish League of Decency was founded as a direct response to Toibin's DAY 1973 show If the Cap Fits? His shows were described by some critics as some of the best political and social satire ever produced by RTE.
However, his later show Time Now Mr. T met with a storm of protest with complaints from viewers and even pickets at Montrose for screening what they...