I don't feel I have to defend myself for being English or for being Irish, because, in a way, I don't feel either. And, in another way, of course, I'm both.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I feel more Irish than English. I feel freer than British, more visceral, with a love of language. Shot through with fire in some way. That's why I resist being appropriated as the current repository of Shakespeare on the planet. That would mean I'm part of the English cultural elite, and I am utterly ill-fitted to be.
Being Irish is very much a part of who I am. I take it everywhere with me.
I think of myself as being Jewish and Irish, despite the fact that I'm English.
Some people say to me, 'You don't sound very Irish.' It's because I have this tendency to iron out my accent: not because I'm ashamed of it but because it makes my life easier if I don't keep having to repeat myself.
Being Irish means you belong to the clan. It's what you feel. They feel Irish.
The problem with being Irish... is having 'Riverdance' on your back. It's a burden at times.
I'm proud to be Irish.
I find being Irish quite a wearing thing. It takes so much work because it is a social construction. People think you are going to be this, this, and this.
I'm just a true Irish boy at heart.
The way I see it is that all the ol' guff about being Irish is a kind of nonsense. I mean, I couldn't be anything else no matter what I tried to be. I couldn't be Chinese or Japanese.