FORTY is definitely the new 20 - we'll vouch for that! - so Michael Flatley is perfectly right to say that 50 nowadays is the same as what 35 used to be.

One of the esteemed half century club's newest members - he hit the milestone last Wednesday - had a modest but meaningful birthday celebration with family members at his estate, Castlehyde, in Cork.

"I don't know who has said I'm 50, I'm only 35! I had only one wish and that was to spend it with my parents," Michael told the Evening Echo newspaper in his adopted home county.

The locals in the town of Fermoy are thrilled that such a famous star has chosen to make his home on their patch of turf.

"Michael Flatley is our celebrity and he has helped put our town on the map. He has been good for the town over the years and I'm sure everyone would like to wish him well," county councilor Aileen Pyne told the paper.

If his next 50 years are anywhere near as great as those just past, Michael Flatley fans are in for a heck of a treat!