Oliver Callan had been off the air for a few days but returned today.

The host - who replaced Ryan Tubridy in the 9 am weekday slot on RTÉ Radio 1 earlier this year - had been off for the past few days, during which time Maura Derrane covered for him.

Upon his return this morning, Oliver Callan explained his absence was due to him being diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, which he had to have surgery to remove.

Opening the show, he explained: "It's good to be back... I must thank the lovely Maura Derrane for presenting the programme for about nine days there and at short notice as well and doing it really well.

"I'd gone off for just a very minor procedure you see which I thought would just put me off-air for two days but it turned out to be a longer spell.

"Like thousands of us out there with our Irish skin, I got one of those mild skin cancers. Basal cell carcinoma - that's the official term.

"It doesn't spread to your body so it's not that scary, but it has to be surgically removed and mine is located on the face, which is a precious place when suddenly someone comes at you with a scalpel, just between the edge of my nose and the corner of my lip."

Callan added that the surgery left him unable to "talk properly".

He was also told "not to laugh out loud for the last two weeks" or else he would "end up with a nasty, nasty scar".

"Fortunately there wasn't a lot to smile about while I was gone with all the American carnage and all that trouble over the immigration element of our housing disaster," he said.

"But look I'm back now, I did lots of research work for the show and I read some upcoming books with authors that we'll be meeting over the rest of the summer."

He then joked: "I've also started growing a moustache because I can't shave at the scar yet you see, so, as a result, I look something maybe approaching an inept sidekick of a provincial detective in a 1980s Sunday night TV drama. That's the look I'm going for.

"So, thank you Maura, and thank you to the team for their patience while I was out so soon into a job that's still relatively new. It is to me anyway."

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