My Greystones: Dustin The Turkey

29MAY14

ormer child star Dustin The Turkey has been living the life of a well-stuffed chicken here in his native Greystones ever since he became a household name back in December 1989 – when he first appeared RTE’s long-running children’s show The Den.

Introduced initially as Dustin Hoffman – given his striking resemblance to the two-time Oscar-winning actor – our feathered friend soon gathered a cult following. Mainly because this turkey was foulmouthed. Naturally enough.

The fact that this TV star with a voice somewhere between Shaun Ryder, Mrs Brown and a cat being scraped across a blackboard should go on to not only score top-selling singles and albums but also reach the dizzy heights of representing Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 s- with the prophetic Irelande Douze Pointe – speaks volumes about Dustin’s talents. And Ireland’s complete and utter lack of musical taste.

With the spotlight long having faded on this once hugely popular Irish cultural icon – his Dustin Gets Paxo’d! DVD has been sitting, dejected, in the Greystones branch of Vincent’s for over 3 years now – this old bird now spends his time making papier-mache audiences out of €50 notes. When he’s not busy having weekly money fights with his two brothers in the Penthouse Suite of The Shelbourne, of course.

Spare a thought for this lost soul, Greystones’ very own Norma Desmond. Tragic.

Rebuilding our archives, this My Greystones entry is from May 29th 2014. Find all our MG entries here.