I wouldn't go out of my way to experience the indignity of middle-age just because it might be good meat for a story.

The best way to reveal a character is to get them to open their mouths.

The problem with being Irish... is having 'Riverdance' on your back. It's a burden at times.

No matter how close to personal experience a story might be, inevitably you are going to get to a part that isn't yours and, actually, whether it happened or not becomes irrelevant. It is all about choosing the right words.

I tend to plan as I write. And I want to leave myself open and the character open to keep on going until it seems to be the time to stop.

You know people are always putting Ulysses in the top 10 books ever written but I doubt that any of those people were really moved by it.

It's a big con job. We have sold the myth of Dublin as a sexy place incredibly well; because it is a dreary little dump most of the time.