'Time to give something back'

It was exactly 10 years since the first Riverdance performance, and in some ways nothing had changed.

In 1994, Michael Flatley was an interval act in the Eurovision Song Contest. Yesterday he was a sideshow to an EU enlargement party. As he donated a Rolls Royce to charity outside the Westbury Hotel, TV crews were again scouring the nearby pubs looking for Irish opinions on the European entries.

But of course many things have changed in the intervening decade. The EU has a lot more members now, for example, and Michael Flatley has a lot more cars. Yesterday was "time to give something back", he said. But even after his giveaway, he still owns a new Rolls Royce Phantom, a Bentley Continental, two BMW Z8s, a BMW XJ5 jeep, and a vintage V12 Jaguar.

Not that he has much time for driving them. The dancer has clocked up a lot of mileage since 1994, but most if it is in his ankles. So the new owner of his Rolls - it will be auctioned on the RTÉ People in Need Telethon on May 21st - will acquire a car with only 8,000 miles on the dial.

Even without the celebrity value, the Rolls is thought to worth €100,000. "I hope we get a lot of money for this baby - I've had a lot of fun in it and the new owner will too," said Flatley, whose open shirt, leopard-skin- lined coat and pirate's earring had fun written all over them. It may be a relief to potential buyers, however, that whatever fun he's had in the car has not had any notable effect on the cream hide interior or cashmere fur mats.

Critics of the "Lord of the Dance" will be surprised to learn that Flatley embarrasses easily.

Discussion of embarrassing Christian names may have dominated his conversation with Gay Byrne, who accepted the Rolls on behalf of People in Need, and chatted with him inside for the benefit of the cameras. The veteran broadcaster said he hadn't had a chance to test the second-hand car yet, but looked forward to doing so: "If I find anything wrong with it I'll give it back."