Colm Tóibín

Basically folding things and putting them into envelopes.

But I followed the election that night on television very closely.

I was very pleased when our party got elected.

And I worked on the 69 election, which was meant to be, the big slogan for the Labour Party was the 70s will be socialist.

But actually we won, Fianna Fáil won.

I mean, not that we ever did anything useful.

I mean, and once I went to university, I was so ashamed, you know, of being, having worked for Fianna Fáil in the 69 election.

I have a sneaking regard for the party, but not for its policies.

But intellectual, yeah, my mother read poetry and cared a lot about poetry, but no one would use the word intellectual.

Intellectuals were in Paris.

I've never thought of that.

Yeah, I liked how I looked.

Yeah, I did.

But I never put that much thought into it.

I grew a beard as soon as I went to university.

So I looked much older than I was, that I didn't shave the beard off for years.

I had terrible teeth.

I don't know.

There was a funny thing happened in university where there was one lecturer

And no matter where I ever was in any way near him, he always stared at me obsessively.