The middle class is doing fine in fiction. But it's not what gets me going. I love the working class and everyone from it I've met and think they're incredibly witty inventive - there's a lot of poetry there.

I wanted to reimagine the role in a way that was respectful of its traditional responsibilities but made them part of a wider pattern of poetry about national incidents events preoccupations and to spend a great deal of time going to schools trying to demystify poetry.

I think there are things in my story that have helped my creativity. Your father being killed for instance is one of the best things that could happen to a kid if he's going to write poetry or songs.

When you're going through something whether it's a wonderful thing like having a child or a sad thing like losing somebody you often feel like 'Oh my God I'm so overwhelmed I'm dealing with this huge thing on my own.' In fact poetry's a nice reminder that no everybody goes through it. These are universal experiences.

As an actor there is room for a certain amount of creativity but you're always ultimately going to be saying somebody else's words. I don't think I'd have the stamina skill or ability to write a novel but I'd love to write short stories and poetry because those are my two passions.

Everyone thinks they're going to write one book of poems or one novel.

A poet's work is to name the unnameable to point at frauds to take sides start arguments shape the world and stop it going to sleep.

I had a big Akita Yoshi who was fabulous. I loved him. We lost him when he was 12 and I've never been able to replace him. Normally most people lose a pet and get another and keep going on. But it just felt wrong to me it felt disloyal.

My parents were very permissive when it came to animals. As long as we earned the money to buy them and built whatever structure it was they were going to live in we could have any kind of pet we wanted. They would have let us have a rhinoceros if we could have afforded it.

There are all sorts of cute puppy dogs but it doesn't stop people from going out and buying Dobermans.

You are not going to get peace with millions of armed men. The chariot of peace cannot advance over a road littered with cannon.

When I lived in New York not only did I have safety locks on the door but I had the music going keeping the city at a distance trying to find creative time and peace and so forth.

I think what the Nobel committee is doing is going beyond war and looking at what humanity can do to prevent war. Sustainable management of our natural resources will promote peace.

United Nations peacekeepers are going all over the world spreading AIDS even while they're trying to bring peace. What a supreme irony.

Isaac and I are going to Israel to ride for peace enviromental justice and a safer world for us all.

Actually I feel music becoming more and more important. It's a big source of inspiration. With what's going on in the world we feel almost desperate. Music also brings you peace.

But if republicans are to prevail if the peace process is to be successfully concluded and Irish sovereignty and re-unification secured then we have to set the agenda - no-one else is going to do that.