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I find politicians globally are somewhat disappointing, not just in Ireland.

We've seen a lot of dirty politics in Ireland.

I believe in professionalism, less in politicians.

We tend to think of politicians as time-servers and slackers. But on those committees they usually have an interest in the subject. And they're quite clever. I've seen them pick people apart.

At the heart of the Irish economy has always been the philosophy of tax competitiveness. On the cranky left, that is very annoying; I can see that.

Irish people are pragmatic. They understand that nobody is going to fix our problems but ourselves.

We've got enormous potential, phenomenal potential on our doorstep, which requires politics that makes that work, and that's what we try to show here in Ireland: that while there's a lot of pain, the reward at the end of this is career opportunities, prosperity, and brighter days for everybody.

It's not that the Irish are cynical. It's rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody.

I admire personalities. Some politicians who are only great mice are just persons.