CO DOWN comedian Patrick Kielty opens up about his father's murder, his 'secret' family history and how he feels the north is moving 'backwards' on tomorrow night's episode of Eamonn Mallie Face to Face with on UTV.

Veteran journalist and broadcaster Eamonn Mallie asks Kielty about his upbringing and family, which leads the comic to reveal how his grandmother went to live in America with a soldier she’d met here during the war, leaving her young son behind to live with her parents.

The Dundrum-born comic, who is currently being tipped to become the next host of RTÉ's Late Late Show, explains how this closely-guarded family secret eventually came to light, and how his late dad struggled to deal with the truth.

Kielty also reveals that, on the night of his father's murder by loyalist paramilitaries in 1988, he switched on the radio in his bedroom and heard Mallie reporting the death on the news.

On the topic of forgiving his dad’s killers, he says, “You don’t learn to forgive - you learn to live. If you want to live, you have to accept what has happened.”        

The second half of the interview covers his commentary on the current political situation and the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

“I never thought in my life that we would see things moving backwards," he tells Mallie.

"When you see things not improving, and you see people who don’t understand what’s going on here making decisions that affect this place, it makes me angry.”

“If you’re going to improve this place, it’s important to call out some of the nonsense that’s been going on."

On being asked about a united Ireland, the comedian explains that it was what everyone around him wanted while growing up in a nationalist household.

He says, “It’s a hugely complex thing, in terms of how would things change. Would it be peaceful?” 

Other guests on the sixth series of the UTV show include Tony Blair, Mary Black, Martin O’Neill and Dawn Purvis. The Patrick Kielty episode will air on Tuesday March 21 at 10.55pm.