Ahead of the third and last series of RTÉ’s comedy drama ‘The Dry’, Roisin Gallagher and Siobhán Cullen – who play on-screen sisters – share why they identified with their characters and how roles for women have changed for the better

Actors Siobhán Cullen and Roisin Gallagher, who star as Caroline and Shiv Sheridan in The Dry. Photo: Alex Sheridan

Actors Siobhán Cullen and Roisin Gallagher, who star as Caroline and Shiv Sheridan in The Dry. Photo: Alex Sheridan

When Roisin Gallagher first read for the part of Shiv Sheridan, the lead in the series The Dry, written and created by Nancy Harris and directed by Paddy Breathnach, she felt an instant note of recognition. “I remember reading the scene for the audition, and in it she said, ‘I’m 35, and I’m not where I thought I should be. And I remember going, ‘Oh. Oh I get that,’” Gallagher, who is on Zoom from a hotel room, smiles. “I wanted to know more about what that is, to be a 35-year-old woman and not be [at] the place where you feel like you should be.”

Things at the time, professionally, were “strange”, she recalls with a smile.