I find being Irish quite a wearing thing. It takes so much work because it is a social construction. People think you are going to be this, this, and this.

I think it’s very important to write a demythologized woman character. My characters are flawed. They are no better than they should be.

I am interested in silences

Cats, I always think, only jump into your lap to check if you are cold enough, yet, to eat.

We have lost the art of public tenderness, these small gestures of wiping and washing; we have forgotten how abjectly the body welcomes a formal touch.

If you grow up in Ireland and read books then you really are obliged to attempt your own some time. It is not exactly a choice. I still don't know if I am a writer. Believe me, there are days when I have my doubts.

In more static societies, like Ireland, you can tell where a person is from by their surname, or where their grandparents are from.