Costello's sister Suzanne is an Irish international hockey player, sprinter and is director of the Samaritans ( Charity ) in the Republic of Ireland.

All in all, Costello's professional career had lasted an astounding 20 years, from 1979 – 1999, and ended with a win over a former world champion.

* May 26 – The Fine Gael parliamentary party approves Declan Costello's Just Society programme.

Costello's death was a severe blow to the INLA, as he was their most able political and military leader.

It was at this election that Costello's son, Declan, was elected to the Dáil.

Some of his colleagues questioned the wisdom of Costello's decision to call an election ; the view was expressed that he was tired of politics, and depressed by his wife's sudden death the previous year.

Other performers have produced occasional recordings in the genre, including Elvis Costello's Almost Blue ( 1981 ) and the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss collaboration Raising Sand, which was one of the most commercially successful albums of 2007.

Brigid Makowski, who was called to testify at his court martial in Mornington in County Louth, remarked that " Jesus could have testified on Costello's behalf and it wouldn't have changed the verdict.

However, other accounts indicate that the 60 %- 40 % split was Costello's idea.

Costello's additional demand that the team be renamed " Costello and Abbott " was rejected by Universal Studios, resulting in a " permanent chill " between the two partners, according to Lou's daughter Chris Costello in her biography Lou's on First.

Costello's childlike demeanor was strictly acting, and he aggressively battled with the more easy-going Abbott as well as the studio.

The widely reported claim that he died in the presence of friends and that his last words were actually " that was the best ice-cream soda I ever tasted " appears to have been fabricated some time after the event, possibly as a dig against Costello's weight.

In 2005 Madison Street, in the Sandy Hill section of Paterson, where Costello was born, was renamed Lou Costello's Place.

The centennial of Costello's birth was celebrated in Paterson on the first weekend in March 2006.

Ken Niles was the show's longtime announcer, doubling as an exasperated foil to Abbott and Costello's mishaps ( and often fuming in character as Costello routinely insulted his on-air wife ).

Maxene Andrews remembers visiting Costello with sisters Patty and LaVerne during his illness, and she also remembered how Costello's demeanor changed after the tragic loss of his son, saying, " He didn't seem as fun-loving and as warm ... He seemed to anger easily ... there was a difference in his attitude.

In the 1950s Abbott and Costello's popularity waned as their place as filmdom's hottest comedy team was taken by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

It was also widely rumoured that the Workplace Relations ' Minister, Tony Abbott was making a play to take over Costello's position as deputy.

Costello's next move was to accept Louisiana governor Huey Long's proposal to put slot machines throughout Louisiana for 10 % of the take.

Costello's rule was very profitable, with slot machines in New Orleans with Carlos Marcello, illegal gambling in Florida and Cuba with Meyer Lansky, and illegal race wires with Bugsy Siegel in Los Angeles.

On May 2, 1957, soon after Costello's release from prison, an attempt was made on his life.

Costello's sedate funeral service at a Manhattan funeral home was attended by 50 relatives, friends, and law enforcement agents.

* Joe Costello's page on the Labour Party website

Without Lewis ( but with Hopper ), they eventually became the original backing band for Elvis Costello's first album My Aim Is True.

Edmunds had more UK hits during this time, including Elvis Costello's " Girls Talk ", Nick Lowe's " I Knew The Bride ", Hank DeVito's " Queen of Hearts " ( written for Edmunds and later a US hit for Juice Newton using the same arrangement ), Graham Parker's " Crawling from the Wreckage ", and Melvin Endsley's " Singing the Blues " ( originally a 1956 US # 1 hit for Guy Mitchell, and a UK # 1 for both Mitchell and Tommy Steele ).

He has appeared on Elvis Costello's Spike, Mighty Like a Rose ( 1991 ), and Kojak Variety ( 1995 ).

His follow up was the Mitchell Froom produced Lament for the Numb ( 1993 ), which included members of Elvis Costello's one time backing band.

He occasionally took " civilian " roles in feature films ( he's the boxing referee in Abbott and Costello's Buck Privates ), but the biggest part of Tyler's screen career was spent making low-budget B-movie westerns for modest salaries.

Nieve played piano, organ, and other keyboard instruments on most of Costello's projects over the next ten years, including the albums This Year's Model ( 1978 ), Imperial Bedroom ( 1982 ), and Blood and Chocolate ( 1986 ).

Thomas played drums on the albums Spike ( 1989 ), Mighty Like a Rose ( 1991 ), and Kojak Variety ( recorded in 1990 but not released until 1995 ) and was a member of Costello's 1989-1991 touring band, The Rude 5.

In Hollywood, she starred in The Bonnie Parker Story ( 1958 ) and The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock ( 1959 ), which was Lou Costello's last screen appearance.

One of her last films was Abbott and Costello's In the Navy ( 1941 ), in which she played opposite Dick Powell.

Kastel had the assistance of New Orleans mafioso Carlos " Little Man " Marcello, who knew every place in New Orleans that could take one of Costello's " one-arm bandits ".

champion and veteran Saoul Mamby, who replaced Leroy Haley, another former possessor of Costello's belt, on five days notice.

Costello's agreement to make arrangements for their arrival in the United States, the fellowship of women, except for Rose O ' Toole ( who remained in Dublin long enough to settle a family estate ) decided to leave their homeland to teach in Philadelphia.

Prime Minister John Howard defended Campbell from charges of any moral wrongdoing, despite deputy leader Peter Costello's claim in Parliament that anyone who dealt with Brian Burke was morally compromised.

Santoro hides Costello in a warehouse outside the Arena and confronts Dunne, who tries to bribe Santoro into revealing Costello's location and to look the other way on the whole plan.

Flemmi is the basis of Frank Costello's chief enforcer and contract killer " Arnold French " portrayed by Ray Winstone in the 2006 crime thriller The Departed.

Compare also the following lines of Elvis Costello's song " Oliver's Army ": Oliver's Army are on their way / Oliver's Army is here to stay.

The marketing of Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True included advertisements in three UK music papers from which a poster of Costello could be constructed, and the first 1, 000 pressings contained an insert headed Help Us Hype Elvis, which, if completed and returned to Stiff, ensured that a friend would received a free copy.

" In 1934, LaGuardia went on a search-and-destroy mission looking for mob boss Frank Costello's slot machines, which La Guardia executed with gusto, rounding up thousands of the " one armed bandits ", swinging a sledgehammer and dumping them off a barge into the water for the newspapers and media.

This has been restarted from 2008 onward with Matthew J. Costello's ( a story consultant for Doom 3 and now Rage ) new Doom 3 novels: Worlds on Fire and Maelstrom.

* At one point in the film, where Abbott and Costello's characters are going through the revolving panel, Costello calls Abbott by his real name instead of his character's name.

The news took the British Government, and even some of Costello's ministers, by surprise.

Kavanagh generously praised Costello's forensic skill, and the two men became friends.

Costello's government did have some success with Ireland becoming a member of the United Nations in 1955, and a highly successful visit to the United States in 1956, which began the custom by which the Taoiseach visits the White House each St. Patrick's Day.

They were forced to withdraw from Fireman Save My Child in 1954 due to Costello's health and were replaced by lookalikes Hugh O ' Brian and Buddy Hackett, and were dropped by Universal the following year.

Universal upped the duo's salary, but refused Costello's demand to reverse the billing, stating that it had hired Abbott and Costello, not Costello and Abbott.

They were forced to withdraw from Fireman Save My Child in 1954 due to Costello's poor health — he had been plagued by heart problems all his life due to a childhood bout of rheumatic fever — and were replaced by lookalikes Hugh O ' Brian and Buddy Hackett.