I wasn't even aware of the Year of the Family. I couldn't give a toss. These things - the year of the family, the year of the three-legged dog. I think it's all trash.

If you're from Dublin, for example, chances are you live with your family, if you're lucky enough to, right up to the mid-20s. And most of the people I know, when they finally sort of set off on their own, they don't stray all that far.

Do not place a photograph of your favourite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.

To claim that music is more important than oxygen would be trite and sentimental. It would also be true.

Dreaming was only nice while it lasted.

If there is a heaven, Jane Austen is sitting in a small room with Mother Teresa and Princess Diana, listening to Duran Duran, forever. If there's a hell, she's standing.

When you grow up on an island, what matters is how you stand to the sea.