Career
He came to prominence on the RTÉ television show Nighthawks which began broadcasting in the late 1980s. McAleer became known for his three-minute sketches of surreal rustic tales told in his slow County Tyrone drawl. One critic said that McAleer "put the dead back into deadpan".
McAleer"s most recent show is entitled "Chalk and Cheese".
He believes his comic talents blossomed in the classroom and he lived in Barcelona, Spain for a period. In July 2009, McAleer stated that he has completed a first draft of a book about John F. Kennedy.
He writes in his office which is located in Omagh and cites Flann O"Brien, James Joyce, Don DeLillo, Umberto Eco and Nikolai Gogol as influences. McAleer wrote a column for the Sunday Independent in 2009.
McAleer"s wife, Valerie Whitworth is a self-employed artist and a vocal instructor for community choirs in Omagh and Enniskillen.
