`I lived away from Cork for four years. It's when you come back that you see the place in a new light, you realise that it's got everything that suits you. Things like the smell from Linehan's sweet factory can make me stop and go, yeah, that's it. Or the smell from the bakeries that are all over Cork, like Donnelly's on Shandon Street. Then there's that whole mix of smells in the English Market, fishy smells and olives and the smell off the side of a pig."

"Bell's Field is on top of Patrick's Hill; it's a kind of rolling meadow that runs down into a valley, which is Blackpool. It's got the most amazing view of the northside, from the Bishop's Palace to Finbarre's Cathedral and out as far as the County Hall, which is our only skyscraper and it's such an attraction that we bring visitors out to see it. Patrick's Hill is really the most stunning feature Cork's got. If you go up there this time of the year, when the sun is going down, it looks like Ballincollig is on fire.

"I don't drink a lot but I drink often. There are about 12 pubs I'd go to regularly, where I'd be considered a local. I'm a bit like the cat on the street everyone thinks they own. You know, gets fed in one house, has a nap in another, gets washed in another. There's Frankie Sulls, Tom Barrys, Callanans, The Castle Inn, The Hi B, The Long Valley, Cashmans, Dennehys, the Cork Arms, Donovans, The Corner House, Pa Johnsons, Pat Buckleys, The Old Reliable. I'm a regular in all of these. . . They all think I'm their cat."