Why is freedom such a hard sell? That's the question. In this country, why has the idea of individual liberty and responsibility become such a hard sell? That's something I never thought would happen here.
There's no such thing as 'hard sell' and 'soft sell.' There's only 'smart sell' and 'stupid sell.'
I've also worked hard portraying an Ireland which is fast disappearing. Ireland was a very depressed and difficult place in the 1980s, and I've tried to include that in the script. I worked really hard to find the heart of the book.
A Canada-style deal for the whole of the UK results in a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. For that reason, it has never been acceptable to the EU without a permanent hard border down the Irish Sea.
No-one wants to see a return to the hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
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've never put Northern Ireland into a novel because it's not my territory. I come from the South, so my imaginative territory is very much the Republic of Ireland rather than the North. Even though, if I wrote a novel about the North, it might sell more.
People have always asked me, 'Haven't you wanted to sell out?', and it's like, who am I going to sell to?
Forget words like 'hard sell' and 'soft sell.' That will only confuse you. Just be sure your advertising is saying something with substance, something that will inform and serve the consumer, and be sure you're saying it like it's never been said before.
When I left Liverpool, I knew had to leave. It was a big step but it was something I had to do. A lot of people asked if it was hard, it wasn't hard. It was something I needed to do to improve and get better as a footballer.
I mean Ireland, in all honesty I owe Ireland a lot because I think, and I'm not just saying this flippantly, Ireland is probably the reason that I do the job I do because when I started doing stand-up I came to Ireland and I just sort of gelled with the idea of doing it the way I do - telling stories.
One piece of advice I often give young singers, including my son Vijay, is to not get sidetracked from their primary duty of learning music. This is the age of marketing and hard sell. Everybody wants instant results. But no amount of hard sell will prop you up if you don't hone your craft.
Both the U.K. and the E.U. have made a sincere commitment to the people of Northern Ireland: there will be no hard border. Equally, as a U.K. government, we could not countenance a future in which a border was drawn in the Irish Sea, separating Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K.
My father was from Northern Ireland, and coming from somewhere like that, your faith defines you. That's something we don't really understand outside Northern Ireland, but because of my parents and grandparents, I've experienced it.
When we do interviews and we get asked the same questions over and over, I'm like, 'I wish we'd get asked something different.' But when we do, I have no idea. I'm not prepared. Because it's hard to remember your own life!
My point is there's a hidden Scotland in anyone who speaks the Northern Ireland speech. It's a terrific complicating factor, not just in Northern Ireland, but Ireland generally.