A biography for Tom Paulinhasn’t been written yet.
“My parents were Northern Ireland Labour party people. We read the 'Guardian' and the 'New Statesman,' listened to the BBC. The house was full of books. We didn't get a television until 'That Was The Week That Was' started. There was nothing to do but read.”
“I do most of the cooking. I'm kind of domestic, untidily so.”
“A truly vibrant and creative culture depends on a system of education which is not divided along class and sectarian lines.”
“I think attacks on civilians in fact boost morale.”
“Again and again, I find something eerie in many Irish occasions - the unrelenting whiteness, the emotional tribal attachments, the violent prejudices lurking beneath apparently pleasant social surfaces, the cosy smugness of belonging.”
“Is the biographer an artist who can and should exist on equal terms with the dramatist, fiction writer and poet? The short and robust answer is, 'Certainly not.'”
“Unfortunately, in the north and the south of Ireland, intolerant habits are part of the fabric of emotion, part of the identity crisis which afflicts the population of the country.”
“I don't think the British carry a historical consciousness either.”
“I'm kind of domestic, untidily so.”