Imagine for one minute that the Irish establishment is a sacred cow and that Dermot Morgan is a butcher. He sharpens his knife on a whetstone and then proceeds to open up the beast. He feasts on the flesh, on the offal and finally on the carcass.

Morgan’s week-long show, billed as “Black Humour 1995”, lives up to its title. It is dark and often deliriously funny.

The Official Ireland which he derides – Church and State is lambasted ferociously. The voices of Morgan’s stand-up routine are reminiscent of the voices heard on Scrap Saturday, the satirical RTÉ Radio 1 show, which he co-wrote with Gerry Stembridge. Morgan’s mimicry remains second to none. Sundry politicians, journalists, television celebrities and ecclesiastical figures are sent up with delightful irreverence. The show includes a political fairytale about Brendan Bear, Harry Bearahan, Bear A who turns out to be Matt Bear and Eoghan Fitzbear.

The Beef Tribunal, the Peace Process and Pope John Paul II’s recording of the Rosary are all themes on which Morgan dwells during the show. The iconoclastic feast also includes a lip-smacking story about Albert and the Beanstalk, which is illustrated by the use of a slide projector showing caricatures of politicians drawn by Irish Times cartoonist Martyn Turner.

In Morgan’s eyes, events in Irish politics take on the dimensions of a grim fairytale. The Government jet becomes a magic carpet and Leinster House “a big house on Merrion Street where everyone is up in the clouds”.

His ability to sing and play the guitar add variety to a performance which sometimes touches raw nerves. Political correctness is not on Morgan’s menu. The comedy he serves up is carnivorous and at no stage does he pause to munch on a side-salad when juicy topics abound.

Since Morgan came to the attention of the Irish public with his performances on the Live Mike television show in the late 1970s he has gone on to top the Irish charts, with Thank You Very Much Mr Eastwood, in December 1985 and to become National Entertainer of the Year in 1991. As with Scrap Saturday, Morgan spreads his gift for political parody with largesse.