FERGUS O'DOWDFine Gael spokesman on education and skills
My work as a public representative requires me to read all the time – newspapers, minutes, correspondence, e-mails, Dáil reports, education issues, but I read also for pleasure.
In fact, I am a voracious reader, and the books I have on the go at the moment include Resistance, by Agnes Humbert, who was a very determined French Resistance member, whose memoir is a truly remarkable account of her human spirit, which shines through even in her darkest days. I am also reading Manhunt – The 12-day Chase for Lincoln's Killersby James Swanson. This is a book you will read non-stop. It is history as you have never read it before – a fascinating blend of murder, intrigue and betrayal. I often read up to three books at one time; some I don't finish and some I re-read. I have yet to finish Robert Fisk's excellent but very long The Great War for Civilisation.
I have re-read many times Marianne Elliott's Partners in Revolution – The United Irishmen and France, which is my favourite Irish history book. Over the next couple of months I hope to get through A Movable Feastby Ernest Hemingway, Easter 1916by Charles Townshend, France — The Dark Years 1940-1944by Julian Jackson, Nomadby Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Wolf Hallby Hilary Mantel.
As told to Tony Clayton-Lea
