Hooleygan On Tour

Terri Hooley, founder of the Good Vibes record label, rebel, raconteur and supreme chancer, is at large on Culture Night, Belfast. The first of his walking tours was late but apparently successful. But the guy is 20 minutes behind schedule for his second walk and maybe 50 of his audience are getting restless.

But he arrives with a bold swagger and a headful of stories. His son Michael is waving a Jolly Roger flag at the end of a ten foot pole and we're ready to commence. However, the walk will not take place for another 40 minutes as Terri is firstly going to indulge in a scattershot speech on the street that will take in the realms of post-war Belfast, courtship in a Teddy Boy suit, the wonder of Them, the John Lennon yarn and a thousand slivers of micro-monologues. The punchlines of these are known only to the author. Sometimes, you just have to guess the narrative or ride the riff until the next one starts.

He presses me into reading a page from his upcoming book, Hooleygan. It's a feature about Terri that I wrote in 2008 and I'm honoured to be there. And moments later, the procession turns off into Hill Street, the flag still waving with gusto.

I catch up with Terri an hour later on Commercial Court. The entourage now amounts to five people, but still the quotes are spilling out, even more randomly. He tells me that he's proud of me, and that's really nice to hear. I also admire that old buffoon immensely.