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Character Profiles > Mickey Gannon Fletcher O'Leary

Born 5th September 1998, cheeky Michael ‘Mickey’ Gannon was the result of a brief liaison between Oakey High School students Ned Parker and Kirsten Gannon at their year 10 formal. Ned knew nothing about the fact that he’d left Kirsten pregnant and she later went overseas with her parents, who later died, at which point she returned to Australia to live with her grandparents. When her Nana and Pop died, Kirsten was left to raise eight-year-old Mickey on her own, and decided to get in touch with Ned so that he could take on some of his responsibility. Kirsten and Mickey headed back to Oakey, where she got Ned’s new address from his brother, Stuart, then went to Erinsborough to introduce him to his son.

Though stunned to find Kirsten on his doorstep with the news that the little boy outside was his son, Ned accepted what he was being told, though started to panic when Kirsten left Mickey, and his big black dog Jake, with him only hours after turning up. Ned struggled to cope, particularly as he was asked to leave the Robinson house, where he’d been lodging, and was forced to move into Lassiter’s hotel with Mickey and Jake. Ned turned to his good friend Janae Timmins for support and she encouraged Ned to be honest with Mickey and tell him that he was his dad. But Mickey was unhappy in Erinsborough without his mum and, just as Ned was beginning to find his feet and preparing to tell Mickey the truth, Kirsten returned. Kirsten’s arrival made Ned realise that he didn’t want to lose regular contact with his son, but he was still alarmed when, after spending the day with Mickey, Kirsten left him at the hotel and told Ned that she needed some time to herself.

Though upset at being alone again, Mickey’s spirits were raised as amateur boxer Janae started giving him some boxing coaching, and he, Ned and Jake moved back into the Robinson house. A few days later, Ned left Mickey in the care of Frazer Yeats at 30 Ramsay Street, where Mickey wanted to have a swim in the pool. But with no other adults around, and Frazer temporarily wheelchair-bound, Mickey was forced to wait to take a dip, which was lucky, as faulty electrics in the house, and in the pool light, had made it a dangerous place to swim. But Frazer was unaware of the problem and it wasn’t until he spotted a dead bird in the pool, and the light flickering, that he realised, just as Mickey tried to pick up the dead creature and was electrocuted. Frazer summoned up the little strength he had in his legs to rescue the little boy, who was rushed to hospital. Ned was relieved when the nurse gave him the news that Mickey was going to be fine, but was later put out when he was asked to leave, as only immediate family were allowed on the ward outside visiting hours. It was then that Ned broke the news that he was Mickey’s dad, news that Mickey happily accepted.

When Janae announced plans to leave Erinsborough and join the rest of her family up in Northern Queensland, Mickey was devastated and drew her a picture, begging her to stay. More problems came Mickey’s way when he attended the local holiday programme, organised for the kids to socialise during the school break, and found himself being bullied by Matcham Rolfe, son of the Erinsborough Pups football coach Marty. A panicked Mickey ended up wetting himself, and, although Janae decided to stay in Erinsborough at the last minute, Mickey started pretending to be ill to get out of starting at the local primary school. In the end, Ned convinced Mickey that he’d have to face his fears sooner or later, and so Janae accompanied the two of them to the school, where she gave Mickey the advice to stand up for himself and not let anyone push him around. Unfortunately, Mickey took this rather too literally and, when approached by another pupil Hayden Green, he pushed him over, badly hurting his arm and narrowly avoiding being expelled from his new school.

Meanwhile, Mickey had a few new relatives to meet when Ned’s older brother, Steve, along with his wife, Miranda and daughter Bridget moved to Melbourne. Having rented a fully-furnished house in Anson’s Corner, they needed somewhere to store their things and Janae offered the use of the garage at number 26. As they unpacked, Mickey and Jake wandered over for an introduction, leaving Ned’s relatives shocked as they’d known nothing of their little nephew. Desperate to check out the removal van, Mickey later snuck out of the house to play, only to accidentally release the handbrake, causing the van to roll out in the path of a minibus driving various Ramsay Street residents home from Rosie Cammeniti and Frazer Yeats’ wedding. Mickey managed to sneak away from the accident unnoticed, but it left young Ringo Brown in a coma and the police were keen to find out exactly what had happened, realising that somebody must have been in the cab of the van as there were skid marks on the road. Realising how much trouble he was in, Mickey packed a bag and left, with Jake, and he found himself hiding out in an old squat where he met Declan Napier. Declan helped Mickey find food and survive on the streets for a few days, but Mickey then found a note, posted by Ned at Lassiter’s Lake, begging him to come home.

Mickey showed the note to Declan, who agreed to take him home the next day, but on their way to Ramsay Street, Declan saw the chance to make some quick cash when he saw a house with its front window open and a laptop sitting inside. After lying that the house belonged to his friend, Vinnie, Declan agreed when Mickey suggested that he climb in and retrieve the computer, so that they could take it to Vinnie, who was attending an important job interview in the city. However, once Mickey was inside, the window slammed shut behind him and the burglar alarm started sounding. Declan was forced to smash the window to get Mickey out, but in the process, Jake got glass in his paw. Declan agreed to take a worried Mickey back to his house, which he shared with his mum Rebecca, and get some help for Jake. At the Napier house, Mickey hid while Declan lied that the stray dog followed him home. Unfortunately, the plan backfired as Rebecca called for a vet and Mickey’s Uncle Steve, along with Bridget, arrived and recognised Jake. Though Declan claimed that the dog was just a stray he'd found, Steve was suspicious and as soon as he left, phoned the police. Declan, meanwhile, admitted everything to his mum and she was shocked to realise that, rather than doing a paper round, he'd be committing crimes to make money to pay the bills. Since Declan was only sixteen, the police couldn't press charges and Mickey begged his dad not to be angry, as Declan had looked after him and they were now friends.

Mickey's disappearance did have one positive effect - it led to Ned and Janae finally admitting their feelings for each other. And, when Ned took over the training over the Erinsborough Pups under nines' football team from bullying Marty Rolfe, it also helped Mickey make some new friends. But when Mickey asked if his new best friend Tyler Smith could sleep over, Ned had to turn them down, since they were still just renting a room at Paul's house. With that, Janae asked Ned if he and Mickey would like to move in with her, as she was living all alone at number 26 since her family left. Not long after Ned and Mickey moved in, they were joined by Steve, Miranda and Bridget, whose flat was flooded and the full house, including a dog, a kangaroo and an eight-year-old, left Ned and Janae with little time to themselves. Meanwhile, Kirsten came back, but Ned wasn't prepared to give up on Mickey and a custody battle began. When the court social worker suggested that Mickey would be better staying with Ned and Janae for the time being, Kirsten was devastated and, in a desperate act to be with her son, she tried to snatch him and flee town. But Ned and Janae caught them just as they were about to board a coach and Kirsten realised how happy her son was. She decided to return to Adelaide for a while and sort herself out, promising Mickey that she'd be back.

When Kirsten made a sudden return to town, she made it clear that she was going to stick around and be a proper parent, finding herself a flat and work at Charlie's bar. But her presence proved difficult for Janae, who was already feeling like an outsider in the Parker house. After Janae kissed Darren Stark, it caused a huge split in her relationship with Ned and she decided to move up north to be with her family, leaving Mickey devastated. In the months that followed, Kirsten began an affair with Paul, as she began work at Lassiter's hotel, but she also grew a lot closer to Ned and Mickey, who supported her when the affair was uncovered.

When Kirsten was badly injured in a bushfire disaster, young Mickey was terribly concerned he’d lose his mother. As Ned and Kirsten had been getting closer, Mickey was only too delighted when Ned suggested to a very sick Kirsten that the 3 of them live together once she recovered from her injuries. With Erinsborough Hospital struggling to treat Kirsten’s severe injuries, Ned decided it was time to relocate Kirsten to a specialist burns unit in Perth, paid for by Paul, who was feeling guilty over the affair and the fact that, believing Kirsten was dead, he hadn't gone back to save her from the fire. After securing the money needed for Kirsten to be treated there, Ned, Kirsten and Mickey all left Ramsay Street behind.

Several weeks later it emerged that Mickey was struggling to settle in to his new life in Perth. Ned spent most of his time either working or at hospital visiting Kirsten who was still very sick. Ned decided to move Mickey up to stay with relatives Meg and Bruce in Adelaide but everyone became concerned when it became apparent that Mickey had run away. With Steve, Miranda and Bridget doing all that they could to try and find Mickey, it was his friend Callum that secretly knew of his whereabouts- right under their noses on Ramsay Street! Callum did his best to protect Mickey, but eventually Toadie discovered that Callum had been hiding him. Upon finding out his cover was blown, Mickey ran away again. This time Mickey went to the city, but it was Callum who managed to get through to him and this time did the right thing by telling Toadie. With Mickey back on Ramsay Street, he was unhappy at how he was being treated as he felt everyone was making a special effort with him so he would go back to Perth. Worried that Mickey wouldn’t forgive him for telling Toadie where he was, Callum pleaded with Steve and Miranda not to send Mickey back to Perth as he hated it there. Still unsure on if the situation really was as bad as Mickey and Callum were making out, Lou suggested that he travelled up to Perth with Mickey and stayed with him there for a few weeks. That way Lou could find out how unhappy Mickey was and could also have a chat to Ned about possibly taking Mickey back to live on Ramsay Street.

After Bridget gave birth to baby India, Mickey started to feel isolated from his family at No 26. Steve and Miranda said that just because there was a new face in the house, it didn’t mean they loved him any less. Mickey said he knew this, but India’s arrival made him question whether he should go back to live with his parents. Seeing Mickey in this way, Steve arranged for Mickey to go and live with Ned and Kirsten. Initially he’d fly over to New York as Kirsten was in the final stages of her treatment, and had been asked to attend medical conferences in America to show her amazing progress, and then all three of them could live together in Perth. Mickey was excited by the prospect, despite having to be separated from Jake for a few weeks while he was in quarantine, but was sad to leave his friends behind.

Tenure
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Trivia Notes
• Fletcher O'Leary is the real-life brother of Blake O'Leary (Ben)
• Mickey celebrated his ninth birthday on 5th September 2007, though his next on-screen birthday occurred on 20th March 2009