Cass is an irrepressible old rogue, with a severe case of itchy feet. Adept at avoiding regular work, but he always has his eye open for an opportunity for a quick buck. Cass has questionable morals, but his affection for his grandchildren is without question. The eternal traveller he is never short of a story.

We put some of your questions to Eamon.

Do you like playing Cass Cassidy?

Yes, he is an interesting character to play in any medium. He needs, and loves, the comfort of the Carrigstown community, but he has seen too much on his travels to completely integrate into it

You played a politician in Hall's Pictorial Weekly. Do you think Cass would make a politician?

Anyone can be a politician, -look around you for heaven's sake!
Cass could make a good politician, but whether he would always turn up for his clinics is another matter. Anyway, he wouldn't want to walk on Dermot Fahey's toes, he might need him for something.

What storyline would you like to give Cass given the chance?

I don't know. Perhaps as he settles comfortably back into Carrigstown, someone from his twenty years travels returns to haunt him.

How would you describe Cass in 5 words?

Ould dog for hard road.

Will romance ever come knocking at Cass's door?

Cass still fancies his chances, don't we all. He enjoys female company, but whether he could ever commit himself to a full relationship is another matter.

Cass has great energy, does Eamon ever get tired?

Yes, Cass can wear you out. After a heavy week's filming on Fair City, I am wrecked. But on a Friday evening there is a sense of satisfaction. We have got there. This is not just a personal thing. To produce four episodes a week of Fair City requires a huge input of skills and talents. And we do it by the whole team working together, more or less.

Do you think Cass misses his travelling lifestyle?

Oh yes, they were the best years of his life. But as an actor for over fifty years, and having spent a lot of it on the road, I know how the road loses its attraction.

Was he very sad when he lost his ice-cream van?

That was a disastrous poker game. But Cass is a shrewd operator. I wonder if he lost the van on purpose in order to commit himself to Carrigstown.

Describe an average day on the Fair City set?

There really isn't an average day and that's what keeps it interesting.
It can be a helter-skelter from seven a.m. pick up, scene to scene, costume change to costume change, right through to seven or eight p.m. On the other hand there can be hours of just sitting there waiting for the next scene. The focus is always on keeping to the schedule.

Who would you love to work with more in Fair City that you currently do not share many scenes with?

Cass seems to move around Carrigstown fairly freely, and long may it continue.

I think you would be well matched with Dolores; will Cass be fighting for her affections?

Dolores was the first person who looked after Cass when he arrived back. They are close friends but are sensible about it. As regards fighting for her affections, look how Cass encouraged, and conspired, that Pete Ferguson would get involved with Dolores.

What would you say Cass's hidden talents are?

Cass's hidden talents are that he keeps his talents hidden. Remember how he surprised everyone with his sewing machine skills. Incidentally that sewing machine was a wedding present to my mother in 1935. As a child she taught me basic skills. Well, there were no videogames in my childhood days.

What kind of storyline would you like for Shebe? Is it true that she is your own dog?

Yes, she is our dog. She found Ann and me 13/14 years ago. She loves working on Fair City. Everyone makes such a fuss about her. For example, the props department reserves high-class morsels for her from Vinos. She has become quite a diva. But she is also old, deaf, and getting a bit bothered. I used to be able to whisper to her at twenty yards, now I have to shout at her. Sometimes even she thinks I am being cruel to her. I'm not. She is full of beans, but getting older, and there is one storyline I would not like for her. But that's life.

What was your favourite theatre role?

As for other actors, it is always the next one. In my case, that is a revival of Druid Theatre's production of Sean O'Casey's, 'The Silver Tassie' at the Lincoln Centre Festival in New York in July. I play 'ould' Sylvester.
Thirty five years ago I played a young soldier in a production of the play in the Abbey, and thought I would love to play Sylvester. See, getting old isn't all bad!

As the foremost interpreter of the work of Flann O'Brien/ Myles na gCopaleen, do you think he was mad, a genius, or a mad genius?

His best writing is comic genius, a wonderful mind turning the heroic into the mundane. (For example, how the heroic, martyr, Brother 'can't look at an egg'). In this year, the centenary of his birth, take another look at 'The Third Policeman', or have a copy of 'The Best of Myles' beside the bed, and laugh some cares away.

Do you like a pint of plain yourself?

I do yes, but with all their technology, why can't they make the other pints taste as beautiful as the first pint?

What would the Brother say about the IMF do you think?

Not many people know that the Brother was one of the founder members of the IMF. Recently he had to pump up the bicycle and go down to Merrion Row to sort them out. He believes they have gone too 'aisey' on us.

Where is your favourite place in the world?

Inside my head. There are no cheap flights, no flash resorts, but when you get there, you happily realise 'this is where I am.'

What's been the highlight of your career so far?

Two years ago I got the state pension. After over fifty years working as a free-lance actor it is the first permanent payment I have ever had. Maybe that is the highlight. I have survived.