HAVE a lot of heroes in life in all sorts of fields. For sport, it would be Liam Whelan who was killed in the Munich air disaster, historically, it would be Nelson Mandela and Sean Lemass, and politically, it's Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair. I have a musical hero too, and have had him since I was a child, and that is Cliff Richard. What I like about him is that he has had a career that has lasted almost 50 years and is still going strong, and he seems a very clean-cut, decent type of guy.

Cliff was born Harry Rodger Webb in October 1940 in India, and later moved with his family to England. He was a member of a skiffle group before joining the Drifters, but left them when he got his first solo recording deal in 1958. They joined him as backing singers some time later, and had their own recording contact as well, but had to change their name to the Shadows as there was also an American band called the Drifters. Cliff went on to sell more than 250 million albums over 49 years, which is an amazing achievement, in my opinion.

Cliff has had so many hit singles over the years, including 'Livin' Doll', 'Mistletoe and Wine', and 'Congratulations', but my favourite song of his is 'Don't Talk To Him'. He comes third after the Beatles and Elvis Presley in terms of number-one hit singles . . . he had 14 spread out over every decade since the '50s, apart from this one! I think he was probably at his musical peak in 1963, with the release of The Young Ones, which sold over a million copies. Twenty-five of his albums went to number one in the UK, and the number of weeks he has spent in the charts is the second highest after Elvis Presley. He has just released a CD of singles, containing a new version of his first major British hit, 'Move It'.

I was listening to Cliff 's music from an early age, and I met him once when I was a teenager. I had gone to study in London, and when I heard one day that he was going to be at a recording studio in John's Wood one Sunday, I went there and met him. Most people don't know that I collect signatures, but I do and I wanted to get his. He was very nice, and made time to talk to everyone that was there waiting for him, and I still have the signature. It was a memorable one, because he signed his name merely as "Cliff". I used to write to my mother every week while I was living in London, and my sister still reminds me that I wrote to her that week and said that I was upset that I had to miss Mass because I went to meet Cliff Richard instead!

Being a busy Dail deputy means that I don't have that much spare time for interests and I don't get the chance to go to that many concerts, but I've gone to as many of Cliff 's as I could over the years. I listen to a lot of Irish music too, but lately I've found myself listening a great deal to Cliff, because I lead a hectic life, and find that his music relaxes me and chills me out. Sometimes, when people are in the car with me, they point out that I know all the words to his songs.

I see Cliff as an honest, down-to-earth, deeply religious guy who has endured in the music business for almost five decades. I came late to politics and was first elected 15 years ago, so I can't imagine a career lasting as long as that.

When Cliff first emerged on the scene, he was seen as a British version of Elvis, and would probably have only been expected to last a short while in the business.

I However, 49 years after releasing his first single, he is still going strong, and has released countless singles and albums in that time.

His voice is holding up well, and he still has a huge fanbase here in Ireland, and is still packing them in at his concerts. I think the reason for his longevity is that he has adapted with the times, and has changed his style many times over the years . . . he's done rock and roll, pop, gospel etc.

I also admire the fact that he does a lot of charity work, and he was knighted and became Sir Cliff in 1995. I saw him being interviewed on TV3 recently, and he was talking about the fact that there have been rumours about his sexuality, but he said he just decided not to get married, which is fair enough. He dated the tennis player Sue Barker for a few years, but he has been publicly single for most of his life.

People knock him at times, which is a feature of being in the spotlight anyway, but I think it is to his credit that he has managed to keep his public and private lives quite separate. There's a quiet dignity about him, and he keeps his head down and follows his own instincts careerwise, and lets his fans be the judge of what he does.

I think the fact that he has worked so successfully for five decades is an example to people in all walks of life, not just entertainment.