Michael Jackson

RTE to air radio documentary on Michael Jackson's local driver

RTÉ Radio One will broadcast a documentary tomorrow (Saturday) on the Mount Temple-based taxi driver who chauffeured Michael Jackson during the months when the 'King of Pop' lived in the Irish Midlands in 2006.

Entitled 'Michael Jackson's Irish Driver', the programme will air at 2pm tomorrow.

Ray spent almost six months as driver to Jackson when he came to live and record at Grouse Lodge studios in Rosemount, Co. Westmeath.

'The first few days I was in shock. I kept looking in the mirror to be sure the guy in the back really was Michael Jackson,' said Ray.

RTE said the documentary was 'the story of a humble cabbie thrown into exceptional circumstances but who rose to the challenge as he became not only driver but bodyguard to the biggest star on the planet.'

The two men would become friends as Ray, acting as Michael's guide, brought him and his family to visit local play centres, bowling alleys, cinemas, and pubs.

The owners of businesses the singer visited opted to stay silent about the star in their midst.

When a delivery man spotted Jackson in a local bowling alley, the owner assured him the man in the funny hat was not Michael Jackson but just 'a fella from Tullamore who thinks he's Michael Jackson”.

The documentary has contributions from many of the other people Michael Jackson met during his stay in the Midlands, where the anonymity he found allowed him to be a typical Dad to his three children, Prince Michael Junior (9), Paris (8) and Blanket (4).

Grouse Lodge owner Paddy Dunning also speaks out how, having survived a damaging court case, Michael settled into life in Westmeath.

When word of Michael's presence in the Midlands leaked out the loyalty of locals continued, with farmers giving wrong directions to media arriving in Westmeath attempting to locate Grouse Lodge.

Recorded in the Midlands during the summer of 2013, each story recounted in the documentary 'Michael Jackson's Irish Driver' seems more incredible than the last.

'And I didn't charge Michael Jackson anything extra. Just the usual daily rate I would any customer,' said Ray O'Hara.

A podcast of the documentary is available for download here: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/documentary-podcast-michael-jackson-irish-driver.html