“Line is about people that live in a queue or line for so long, for multiple generations, that they have forgotten its purpose. The fear of losing their place motivates them…There are rumours swirling around about what is at the top of the line but the biggest drive for people to stay in the Line is that their parents and grandparents sacrifice their lives so that they could inherit their place. It would be almost sacrilege to just renege your place and the sacrifices of your ancestors for your own selfishness”

“Line is about people that live in a queue or line for so long, for multiple generations, that they have forgotten its purpose. The fear of losing their place motivates them…There are rumours swirling around about what is at the top of the line but the biggest drive for people to stay in the Line is that their parents and grandparents sacrifice their lives so that they could inherit their place. It would be almost sacrilege to just renege your place and the sacrifices of your ancestors for your own selfishness”

by | Mar 3, 2021 | Reviews

Big thanks to Maeve Mulrennan for her interview, which you can read over at The Honest Ulsterman – or below. Niall Bourke’s début novel Line will be published by Tramp Press in April 2021. The publishers describe Niall’s new work as high concept speculative...
Panenka – Book Review

Panenka – Book Review

by | Dec 6, 2020 | Reviews

Panenka – Rónán Hession (Bluemoose Books, May 2021). A celebration of the things other novels often avoid – and all the better for it. A wise man recently told me there are an estimated three billion football fans worldwide. Now this might be a slight overestimate...
The Erection Specialists

The Erection Specialists

by | Oct 22, 2020 | Reviews

My story ‘The Erection Specialists’ was published in The Honest Ulsterman on 22nd September 2020 – and if you are interested you can read it here.   It is entirely fictional, but based loosely (very loosely!) on my experiences putting up marquees...
What I’ve Been Reading

What I’ve Been Reading

by | Oct 13, 2020 | Reviews

Some of what I’ve been reading this year in no particular order: Tennis Lessons (Susannah Dickey – Doubleday): Equal parts funny and poignant, it chronicles a young misfit’s coming-of-age. The voice is razor sharp, as are the wry observations about...
What Is Pisa – And Why Should We Care?

What Is Pisa – And Why Should We Care?

by | Feb 4, 2020 | Reviews

With the U.K sitting in 18th position in the latest Pisa rankings, and the predictable furore about whether this is a justification or indictment of recent educational policy, it’s worth asking do we really know what the Pisa tables mean? On Tuesday 3rd December 2019...