Peter Murtagh: The "Irish Times" Book of the Year: 2002 [2002] hardback

'For at least four, and maybe eight, days they had lived in darkness. Squeezed into gaps among the furniture, they must have had difficulty moving around to keep cramped limbs from turning numb. When the ship ran into a storm sometime last Wednesday some of the furniture is likely to have shifted and the stowaways must have feared being crushed. They must have already been cold and terrified by the time the air supply began dwindling. Imprisoned in the container, they could not have known where they were, or how close they were to freedom.' Caroline O'Doherty 'What all those who are working for change in Ardoyne cannot alter is the inescapable reality that some people hate each other. From the community activist to David Trimble and at all points in between, the depressing truth is that intolerance cannot be legislated out of existence.' Dan Keenan 'Conditions were perfect for washing yesterday, especially if you had a lot of dirty linen. Fortunately AIB press conference in Ballsbridge was almost as bright and breezy as the weather outside. And when it got under way at 11 a.m., six executives from the bank's US subsidiary were already hanging out to dry.'
Frank McNally 'Is the Government not capable of writing an unambiguous piece of legislation? Is it trying to drive us crazy, or merely disorient us in the run-up to the general election campaign? What does it want, a referedum on mobile phone usage?' Kathryn Holmquist 'If there is a tiny glimmer of hope for the routed old-style opposition of Fine Gael and Labour, it lies in the example of Bertie Ahern himself. He took over a demoralised, fractious party in the throes of a historic decline and turned it into a machine so slick that it can leave its traditional enemies at the starting line without even getting into second gear. Yet even that glimmer is a will o'the wisp, an elusive light that will lead those foolish enough to follow it even further into the mire. For the essential message of the election is that if Irish politics is framed as a contest to discover who is best at being Bertie, the winner wil always be Bertie.' Fintan O'Toole. 'Now that Roy Keane will not wear the Irish shirt on Saturday morning, a shameful and mean hour in Irish sport and life has come to pass.
Arguably the greatest Irish sportman of all time has been denied the right to grace the high theatre of world sport in a summer that sees him at the peak of his fiery and singular genius.' Keith Duggan 'One of the hardest truths we've learned from the disappearance of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman is that, short of locking our children in the attic, we are helpless in the face of random evil.' Kathy Sheridan 'It is at best useless and at worst counterproductive for the Europeans to dismiss these moves as just the misguided policies of an unruly Texan sheriff, eager to shoot from the hip. For the divide is much more profound. The Europeans instinctively wish to manage risk; the US still strives to eliminate its vulnerabilities altogether.' Jonathan Eyal Plus Conor O'Clery, Roisin Ingle, Emmet Malone, Miriam Donohoe, Tom Humphries, Hugh Linehan, Lara Marlowe, Kevin Myer and many more...The Book of the Year 2002 is a compendium of the most engaging, witty, amusing and informed writing in The Irish Times. Other books by Peter Murtagh The Irish Times Book of the Year 2001.