The Irish are the niggers of Europe, lads.

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

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

I've been asked why does Ireland produce so many great musicians, and the answer is it doesn't. When you count the great musicians Ireland has given the world in the last 20 years, you can do it on one hand.

I do enjoy Gothic fiction or books about zombies if they are well written and I like vampires.

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.

When I'm writing I just think there's only the page and me and nobody else.