I stopped buying Sunday papers about 15 years ago, because you'd buy handfuls of them, and what you got, because the hard news comes from so many other channels, was opinion pieces. You're better off spending the money on a good novel.

I nominate the Reverend Ian Paisley for the position of First Minister of northern Ireland

There can be no such things as an Irish nationalist accepting the loyalist veto and partition. You cannot claim to be an Irish nationalist if you consent to an internal six county settlement and if you are willing to negotiate the state of Irish society with a foreign government.

It will always be a battle a day between those who want maximum change and those who want to maintain the status quo.

The days of humiliation, of second-class citizens and of inequality are over and gone forever.

When I wrote 'Before The Dawn,' I made it quite clear that there are lots of people involved in my life who I can't talk about simply because I'd put them at risk.

For over 30 years, the IRA showed that the British government could not rule Ireland on its own terms.