Hi guys. Hows it goin?
Bit of a hot take there as the cool kids call it
in a carpark
This is a slightly serious video so apologies for that
I won't make a habit of them
There's loads of funny videos on the page
Check them out
So we do this character called Mairéad Corkery
I'm just kind of seeking a bit of advice
on Mairéad at the moment
Mairéad it is a kind of an unlucky in love
girl-next-door type character
and she just happens to be like a mad militant Republican
Irish Republican as well then at the same time
which I thought was gas craic for a character years ago
And she kind of took on a life of her own
Brilliant
Did a video with her during the  summer there
and she got 1.5 million views
Got a few anti-Irish comments alright on that video
from just a very small portion of English people
who kind of took exception to... her
what they perceived to be like her kind of having a go
at England or whatever
Didn't really mind that to be honest
that was a bit of craic
That's part of the course really
With creating that type of character I think like
and it's only a small portion
Most English people are sound and realise that it's a joke or whatever and stuff
What I wasn't expecting though is that she actually
got a load of emm... kind of homophobic
Or I got a load of homophobic and transphobic comments
which kind of really took me aback
Nasty shit like
and I was like whoa
This is what it must be like for somebody transgender
or gay or whatnot
When they're kind of posting stuff of themselves online
They might get this stuff
Sorry if that sounds so ignorant like
I never really stopped to really fully think of it before I suppose
What really hammered it home for me then
was a few weeks later for the first time ever
I was out in public as her, by day
Just walking around, very little other people with me
We were shooting a comedy video, another video with her
And I was in full, full dress, makeup whatever
And for about two or three hours
I walked around my home city of Cork
For the first time in my life in Cork
I felt extremely uncomfortable
Grown men rolling down the windows in their cars
giving me really aggressive kind of judgmental looks
That made me feel that I was doing life wrong or something
A grown man under his breath
As I passed him by went, "faggot"
I was absolutely...
I suppose what it did
It did two major things to me
One: I filled with empathy
'Cause I think for the first time in my life
I got some sort of sense anyway
of what it's like to be somebody kind of different
in this city and maybe all cities
In case anyone thinks it's me having to go off Cork whatever
Anyone who knows me
I don't know would you meet anyone
prouder of Cork than I am like
I am extremely proud of where I'm from and stuff
but I thought that my city had moved on
an awful lot more than it obviously had
and I felt great sadness that
a city that kind of rolls out the red carpet for the Queen
and Prince Charles there last year
is making some of its own citizens
I assume is making some of its own citizens
on a daily basis feel uncomfortable and unwelcome
And that made me feel really angry
I also thought on a personal basis like
If somebody calls me a faggot here under their breath again
I'm gonna knock them out
I'm not saying that being a tough guy at all
That was just my...
what happened in my gut
and again then I understood what it's like
to be say transgender
or gay and and to get quite upset
or get quite angry online
because presumably you're just fighting these battles all the time
Putting up with this kind of shit all the time
And it just made me feel really angry
And I just wanted to kind of throw it out like
You know, if you're transgender or if you're gay particularly
but anybody who is 'different' whatever that means
Do you feel unwelcome and unsafe in your own city like?
'cause I think that's horrible and I think
if it is the case the more people like me who are ignorant to it
All I did was just walk a day in your shoes or a version of that
And I realise what it's like for ye
and it f**kin really upset me
Do you feel unwelcome in your own home city like?
And also should I be doing this character like?
Should I, a straight man be dressing up as a woman
and making comedy videos?
Is that cool like?
I'm actually genuinely asking for people particularly
transgender people to educate me because I don't know
Is this offensive?
