Fr Jack is saying "feck off" to being conscripted into the Lisbon Treaty referendum campaign.Craggy Island's infamous clergyman isn't saying 'No' to Lisbon -- or 'Yes' to Lisbon, for that matter either.
Frank Kelly, who was immortalised to an entire generation for his role as Fr Jack Hackett in the 'Father Ted' comedy series, objected yesterday to the image of his alter ego being dragged into the Lisbon campaign without permission.
The character featured on a Lisbon campaign poster, which was erected yesterday, and stated: "Tell 'Em To Feck Off. Vote No."
Although the 70-year-old actor has often sent up politicians in his career, Kelly said he had never taken a position in political debates.
"You're not a party man if you're doing satire. I'd never be a party man.
"I once met a politician in Limerick and he vilified me for 'Halls Pictorial Weekly'. I kept my head down and took it and as he left he said: 'But if there's any chance of getting a mention on the show'."
Mr Kelly is not taking any side in the Lisbon campaign. "It's my business how I vote. I still won't say how I will vote," the actor said. "I would be equally annoyed if somebody for the pro-Treaty faction had done it."
The actor says those responsible for the poster have no permission to use his image. "I still am extremely annoyed that anybody should take this liberty," he said.
"It's not anybody's right to grab and use without permission. It's just a transgression of rights -- to take someone's image and put them in a campaign," he told RTE's 'Liveline'.
The posters were sprinkled around Dublin city centre yesterday morning, but disappeared by early afternoon, believed to have been stolen by students.
The actor has a long record of playing and mimicking political figures. In 'Hall's Pictorial Weekly' in the 1970s, he portrayed former Taoiseach Jack Lynch. But his best-loved character was Councillor Parnell Mooney, the manic chairman of Ballymagash Urban District Council.
And during the 2007 general election, he headed up a Tayto crisps marketing campaign featuring Mr Tayto as a spoof candidate.
Speaking of foul-mouthed campaigners in the Lisbon Treaty referendum, Michael O'Leary managed to conduct a press conference yesterday without using the F-word. The motor-mouth Ryanair boss did accuse the Government of being "feckless" though. "We have an inept, feckless Government that would prefer to go on three months holidays than tackle the crisis in the public finances," he said.
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