Kevin Barry

I go to Spain a lot, in winter, for a blast of sunlight to banish the blues brought on by the Irish greys and drizzle. I love the cities of the Spanish interior.

Libraries are where we learn that we can live our lives through books.

When you wake up, instead of checking emails on your phone, or counting your retweets, pick up a pen and scratch a few sentences into a notebook.

I am just a quiet reclusive person who has managed to hang around for a while.

I wanted to be a teacher, but I was a lousy student, one of the slowest readers. It was a tremendous struggle. But I'm lucky I had some teachers who saw something in me.

I am happy to the spokeswoman for this French youth that tomorrow will be spearhead new hope in the shape of the National Front.