Did the Dancing Man meet Arthur? The Diary, Irish Independent, September 25th, 2010.
As more than 50 million people worldwide toasted Arthur Guinness at 17:59 last Thursday, The Diary raised its own glass to actor Joe McKinney, known to millions around the world as 'The Dancing Man' from the Guinness TV ad.
It was in 1994 that Joe danced into our hearts as he waited for his pint to be pulled, a promo that turned the trained actor into a global superstar.
No one-trick pony, Joe went on to play property developer Dan Reilly in RTE's Glenroe between 1998 and 2001, and last year won praise for a role in IFTA nominated film Anton.
So we only hope our man got an invite to at least catch a few bands this year as part of the Arthur's Day.
Hard to know, because when we bumped into Joe this week, and asked if he had been invited to take part in the festivities, he told me, in the gentlest way possible: "I don't want to talk about it."
Artist David Hennessy is another Joe McKinney fan and this portrait of him was part of an exhibition called Arthur's Day -- Guinness on Canvas which concludes at the Balla Bán gallery in the Westbury Mall (off Grafton Street) today.