Some of the people who look the most normal are probably the maddest people trying to look normal.

I write short stories when a little idea occurs to me, that I know isn't a part of a novel that will stand by itself and should be concentrated.

Schools don't really allow failure and yet it's part of any endeavour, not just writing.

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.

My novels come from within me; they are things I feel I want to do.

When I was a kid, if you didn't speak Irish, you really wanted to. And you played Gaelic games and you didn't pay any attention to what was happening in the outside world, because really, the - Ireland was the center of the universe. And I don't think that's the case anymore, although, admittedly, it is the center of the universe.

When I was growing up, the exam system didn't allow you to write fiction, so you never did.