Liz writes on property matters, presents Househunters and Househunters in the Sun on RTE One, and runs a property-finding service for people called Get Sorted . . . www. get-sorted. ie.

She lives in Dublin and is married to architect Rory O'Reilly. They have two children, Rossa (8) and Ellie (5).

As an actress, Deirdre has appeared in many productions, including Dandelions and Paths to Freedom. She became involved in comedy in 1988, when she did her first stand-up gig at the International Bar.

Deirdre and her director husband, Stephen Bradley, have a two-year-old daughter Holly, and they recently moved to London, where Deirdre has just finished filming an ITV drama called Whistleblower. She will be featured in the six-part Class Clowns programme on RTE One on Thursday 12 July, and will be appearing at the Clonmel Junction Festival from 8-10 July.

Liz on Deirdre

Deirdre and I grew up in Drogheda, and we have one brother, John, and two sisters, Grainne and Eimear. Our mother Lilian and father John had five children under the age of seven, and as I was the oldest, I'd say Deirdre might remember me as being quite bossy at times.

I was five when she was born, and I might have been slightly resentful of her, because everyone always said how beautiful she was, and I don't think I was as gorgeous as her. She had fat legs, calves and arms and a big round face as a baby, with these gigantic brown eyes that looked out at you . . . she was like a little Buddha sitting on the couch, which is gas because she's so tiny and so slim now.

Deirdre has always been very focused about what she wanted to do in life, and even though working in comedy or drama involves an awful lot of rejection, she has always stuck with it. She has a big profile in Ireland, and is probably in the top five female comedians in the world, but she's still very grounded and modest. She has never let the limelight overwhelm her, or become flash or bling, and I admire her modesty wholeheartedly. And I don't even think she's achieved entirely what she'd aspire to, and what impresses me about her is that she is continually pushing ahead with her career. Dee is incredibly practical and gives extremely good advice, and she has a very wise head on young shoulders. If I have a row with anybody, or a business problem, she is, hand on my heart, the first person I call, and she pulls me back onto the practical, level, straight road again. And of course she is extremely funny, and my daughter Ellie is an absolute clone of Deirdre . . .she has the funny gene too.

Dee was very encouraging and helpful when I started television presenting, and one of the best bits of advice she gave me was to always inject a little bit of humour and personality into everything you do, because people will remember it.

Deirdre has been living in London for the past six months, although she's back and forth for corporate gigs and festivals, and I think spreading her wings was a great move for her, because she really had gone as far as she could here. I really believe we're going to see her name up in huge, big lights soon, and we're all going to be very proud.

Deirdre on Liz

I think Liz paved the way for the rest of us in the family, being the oldest, and she was the one who broke through all the barriers. My sisters and I had her tormented growing up because we tried all of her things on, and took everything on her, even her shoes . . .

nothing was sacred!

Liz is very funny, and is slightly larger than life, and actually I'd say she's perceived as being funnier than me.

She was always the big 'personality' in the family when we were growing up.

She's the kind of person you'd always be happy to bump into, because she makes you feel energised, and always seems to be up, even when she's feeling low.

Whereas I'm the kind of person who would just say, "Sorry, I'm a little bit depressed today."

I don't know where Liz gets her energy from, because she works around the clock, and she has two kids as well. Although I'm adventurous, Liz is even more so, and she would try anything. She's a lot more impulsive, which may be her best and worst asset.

She had a shop in Newry for a few years and I was working with her one day, and she said she wanted a sports car. So she went out that afternoon and came back with one! However, being impulsive has certainly been very good to her in terms of property. She bought her first house at 20 with a 100% mortgage from British Airways, and luckily sold it before the crash came in England.

Liz worked as an airline stewardess in BA for 10 years, and every member of my family got free flights all over the world, thanks to her. It was brilliant because, at a time when I couldn't get arrested in Dublin, and was probably making a tenner a week, I was able to travel on first-class flights to places like Los Angeles and Antigua.

Mind you, I was meant to be staying in her place in London once, when she was off on a long-haul flight, and she completely forgot I was coming, and didn't leave out the keys. I had no money, and would have been completely stranded, if a neighbour of hers hadn't taken pity on me and let me sleep on his floor.

She's an incredibly good critic for my stand-up, and she's one of the people I run my material by, because she has a good ear for what's funny and what's not. She's brutally honest with me, because she's the kind who'd say, "God, you look dreadful, " as you're walking out the door . . . she's very forthright and doesn't hold back on any front.

Liz is a very good sister to me, and I could call her about anything, and I know she'd do anything for me. I miss her and my family terribly now that I'm living in London, although we're in touch the whole time.