‘AN IRISHMAN'S heart is nothing but his imagination,’ observed George Bernard Shaw (GBS). In the history of literature, few writers have accumulated more honours than the extraordinary Dubliner.

WHEN my son, Gabriel Cormac, was accepted to Law at the University of Glasgow, I had never been so proud of him. I paid for his rites of passage sixth year leavers’ party trip to Corfu. But I wanted to give him gifts of value rather than something that had a mere price. So, I decided to give him my two most prized possessions that I have carried with me throughout my adult life.