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Dustin the Turkey, more commonly simply Dustin, is a popular Irish television puppet, star of RTÉ's The Den since the 1980s. He claims his full name is Dustin Hoffman. He joined the show with fellow puppets Zig and Zag but remained with the show since their departure in the late 1990s. He has also outlasted two human co-hosts: Ian Dempsey and Ray D'Arcy. He makes appearances outside of The Den, including an annual appearance on The Late Late Show Toy Show special where he makes fun of the show's regular host Pat Kenny. A surprisingly provocative character, while he has been tamed down in recent years, Dustin would often make some very insulting remarks about various Irish celebrities, and say a lot of 'dodgy' things about politics and their practises that sometimes made one wonder how he got away with it.

Music

Dustin has been a contender for the number one position in the Irish music singles chart at Christmas time and has had three number-one albums: Dustin: Not Just a Pretty Face, Dustin: Unplucked and Faith of Our Feathers. These albums have featured backing vocals from many Irish stars including Bob Geldof and Boyzone.

Politics

Dustin has, on occasion, expressed an interest in politics. He has mockingly run campaigns for a number of presidential elections (though he was never an official candidate). He ran as a representative of 'Fianna Fowl' (a play on Ireland's largest political party Fianna Fáil) and of the 'Poultry Party'. His major campaign promise was to "bring the DART to Dingle". Many Irish voters have spoiled their votes by writing Dustin's name on their ballot papers.

Identity

The identity of the puppeteer responsible for Dustin is not common knowledge, though it is known that he attended school in north County Wicklow.

• Irish television
• Irish music