People

A burden on the state

Only after seven long years in Ireland did Zainab Disu finally wade through the bureaucratic mire and secure some sort of stable status here. This bright and determined young woman talks to Colin Murphy.

Erwin James: A lifer's sentence

As part of the Cúirt International Literary Festival, writer Erwin James, who spent his youth in borstals and most of his adult years behind bars,  spoke to inmates at Castlerea Prison. Colin Murphy looked on.

Cuckoo in the nest?

Having previously denounced those who suggested holding out the hand of friendship to nationalists as communists, subversives and gangsters, Ian Paisley now sits with a smile beside Gerry Adams and talks to Bertie Ahern about his Irish roots. Did he have a Road to Damascus conversion, or is he now more in the driving seat than ever? By Roy Garland

Questions and Answers with John Banville

‘It's not for me to say which is my best book. They all depress and embarrass me; though naturally I consider them to be better than everyone else's, they are nevertheless far below the standard I aim for'

The long-distance runner

Niall McGarrigle speaks to Alan Sillitoe, the writer of such modern classics as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, who disputes his early labels of "Angry Young Man" and voice of the working class

In the wrong lane – a memory of Ben Kiely

A   small confession. I was home in Ireland from New York in September. All things told, it was a busy time. But on every occasion of coming home in the past I have tried to get in touch with my favourite Irish writer, Ben Kiely. 

Irelands BT Young Scientist

Irelands BT Young Scientist of the Year 2007 Abdusalam Abubakar is known as Abdul to his friends. The CBS student speaks perfect English, as his family moved to from Somalia to English speaking Kenya in 1994. At school in Synge St. Dublin 8 he says he is not treated differently, even though he has been interviewed by Dustin the Turkey and appeared on Ireland AM. One month after the event things are 'back to normal'.

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