ONE afternoon, a gypsy woman came to the door of Brendan’s four-bedroom terraced house selling clothes pegs.
‘This woman had made lots of stuff to sell, so I would buy something from her like a comb and give her a fiver, and I’d normally give her daughter a tenner for her Holy Communion.
‘And she said nice things, like I was the most generous person in the street. And then she said she had some really good news to tell me.
‘“Great. What is it?”
‘“Look, somebody put a curse on you a few years ago but it’s nearly over. It’s just about over. I just wanted to tell you that.”
‘Now, was it true what she was saying? Well, I reckon there’s as much chance of it being true as not.’
Brendan didn’t believe that Joyce had placed the curse on him. But part of him at least worried that those who had had their fortune told were in for some bad luck.
Meanwhile, Brendan knew that going back to waiting jobs alone wouldn’t begin to pay off the debts. He needed to earn more. He tried all the usual outlets for temporary work but these were recessionary times. Brendan was desperate.
As for his luck changing, there was no sign of a leprechaun appearing in the corner of the living room of his Ashbourne home. In fact one would later appear. But in an unexpected form.
Meantime, Brendan saw another possibility, an idea that would have a major impact on his fortunes further down the line. He spied an ad in the Evening Herald with the catchy headline How To Earn A Thousand A Week. And he was curious. So he called up the company that had placed the ad, and he learned they were selling accident insurance.
‘But the intriguing part was that they were offering this training course in Positive Mental Attitude, which lasted a week and took place in a hotel in Athlone.
‘And so I went down there, was introduced to the main man whose name escapes me, and there were eight of us on the course. On that first morning, I took my place at the head of the horseshoe-shaped table, and the bloke in charge was full of energy. Right from the start he had us all up on our feet, and then the music struck up and he had us dancing to “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary”.
‘I thought, “This is interesting. He’s off to a great start, getting us all up and jigging around.” And then he turned and looked at me, caught sight of the earring in my left ear and said, “Love the earring, Brendan. Not sure it’s right for this course, but love it anyway.”’
That night, almost subconsciously, Brendan took the earring out.
‘Looking back, it was so clever how he’d managed to flatter me and have me do what he wanted me to do.’
The next few days involved training in Positive Mental Attitude, psyching the team up to believe that they could sell policies to just about anyone. Brendan loved learning how to get inside people’s minds.
‘The first thing this involves is the mantra, “Get up in the morning and look in the mirror.” So effectively they use your mirror image to give you the PMA course every morning. You are taught to recite the Three Rs: Recognise something in somebody that’s beneficial, Relate it to yourself and then Reuse it for your own benefit.
‘Now, the irony was that those who learned PMA often became so good they left the company, moving on to big sales jobs. But the course does change people’s lives. It gives them the sense that they can conquer the world.’
And, for a boy brought up to believe he could fly, the possibilities were limitless.
Brendan did very well selling medical insurance. And those who opened their doors to Brendan liked the cheery banter. They bought into his oh-so-positive sales pitch.
However, Brendan didn’t stay with it. He was uncomfortable that he was milking friends and acquaintances. And the PMA had given him the confidence to walk away.
‘It certainly focused my mental attitude,’ he says, smiling. ‘I thought I could do more.’
But what? The leprechaun arrived at his door one afternoon, in the form of Gerry Browne. Gerry took Brendan by surprise when he said he was delighted at the news of the pub’s demise.
‘I’m actually thrilled,’ he told Brendan.
‘Why?’
‘Because now you’ll be able to do what you should have been doing all your life.’
‘And what’s that, Gerry?’
‘You’ll go on the stage.’
Brendan’s mind had already flirted with the notion of a career as a performer. He’d won the talent competition. He’d worked with Brendan Grace. And hadn’t the spiritualist implied he would one day stand in front of a microphone?
Now, Gerry’s declaration, combined with Brendan’s PMA thinking, opened the gates of possibility in his head.
What if he could make a living at this game?