Terry Wogan named coolest Irish celebrity

Broadcaster Terry Wogan has been voted the coolest Irish celebrity in a poll of the British public to mark St Patrick's Day.

The veteran television and radio show host beat competition for the top spot from Hollywood stars Pierce Brosnan and Colin Farrell with more than a fifth of the vote (22%).

Long regarded as England's favourite Irishman, the 71-year-old Limerick man stood down from his BBC Radio 2 morning show last year to the disappointment of his eight million listeners.

James Bond star Brosnan (17%), from Co Meath, was voted second coolest Irish celebrity followed by Dublin-born Farrell (13%) best known for his hellraiser reputation and roles in Minority Report, Phone Booth and In Bruges.

Christine Bleakely, the Co Down-born presenter of the BBC's The One Show and girlfriend of footballer Frank Lampard, scored fourth place (6%) while actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers and singer Andrea Corr (4%) came in joint fifth.

They were followed in joint seventh place by music impresario Louis Walsh and Ireland rugby international Brian O'Driscoll (3%) while Derry's Nadine Coyle (2%), of Girls Aloud fame, and Walsh's X-Factor protege Jedward (1%) completed the top ten.

Pollsters YouGov surveyed 2340 adults online last month in the study for Eulogy, an Irish-owned public relations agency in Britain.

The results revealed varying tastes across age groups, with one in five (21%) 18 to 24-year-olds preferring Farrell, closely followed by Brosnan (20%).

But nearly a third (30%) of those aged 55 and over voted Wogan as the coolest Irish celebrity on the list.

Adrian Brady, chief executive of Eulogy, said: "The results give us a great insight into how the British public holds dear so many Irish celebrities."