Usually wearing his yellow synthetic vest, O'Flaherty is tall and lanky. His eyes, hair, and goatee are gray. His speach is filled with the lilt of an Irish brogue, and he is rarely without a broad grin on his face.
All his life, O'Flaherty has wanted to make a really big score, a job that would set him up for life and leave a legacy for his children (he has several, by a number of different wives, some of whom he actually married legally) so that they will not grow up as poor as he did. More than money, though, the Irishman craves the challenge of making a living from smooth talking and fast wits.
O'Flaherty is convinced he can profit from his discovery of the Machine, though he is not quite sure how. This leads him to take action that either involves him at the worst possible times, or complicates the issue a little bit more.
He has a low opinion of Star Fleet (he has made fools of them often in the past) and a great deal of respect for Romulan efficiency. This leads him into trouble in his various dealings.
Pat O'Flaherty (only a handful of men can get away with calling him "Paddy") is the epitome of the smooth-talking con man. He makes Cyrano Jones look like a dolt and Harry Mudd seem a veritable buffoon. This is not to say that O'Flaherty is as good as he thinks he is. He generally "lets his Warp 8 mouth outrun his Warp 1 mind," as one of his crew puts it. He is a lot better at hatching schemes than he is at coming up with solid ways of making them pay off. ("Can't cut solid neutronium?" he is likely to say at one point. "Sure, an' I niver gave it a thought!")
O'Flaherty Is charming, convincing, and affable, the kind of man no one can stay mad at long. He could probably con a Klingon out of his hobnailed boots and sell them right back to him. He will never take a straight course when a con will do the trick. All In all, a likeable but untrustworthy rogue.
