Word: thought
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...There's talk you may stand for the Irish presidency. I really haven't thought about that because it's over two years away and God, have I learned that things can change...
...decide what to include and what to leave out? You've included some very personal details. I went through what I thought I should write, about being in government and social partnership and being Lord Mayor of Dublin and blah blah. And then I said, 'What were the questions I was always being asked?' My marriage broke up in 1987 and I was for years being asked about that. I thought, if I'm ever going to talk about it, it will be now. And then the Tribunal stuff ... That was easy enough to do because it just...
...That comes through. You seem to blame the media for your decision to quit as Taoiseach. Yes, they just kept after me. Even when things were getting serious with the economy, they just kept on my back. I would have [left office] this year anyway. I thought at the end public opinion would be fed up with the tribunal and fed up with me. It just goes on and on. You're asked questions like, 'Do you not remember well going into a bank on Sept. 23, 1993?' and eight hours later you're thinking 'Jesus...
...Finance that startled people. How could the Minister of Finance not have a bank account? Yeah. Of course I had several bank accounts but they were in my wife's name and my name. I didn't have one in my own name. If I ever thought that I was going to be questioned about it, the guys that gave me loans - all I had to do was get them to do a sheet of paper saying this was a loan of money to be paid back. If you spend your life ensuring every little bit of paper...
...Irish used to be instinctive pro-Europeans. Now they're a lot more skeptical. They're far more questioning. People now say 'If we go further in European integration, what will we lose and what will we gain?' [In the Lisbon Treaty referendum] people thought about investment more; they said, 'Why do we have all these companies in Ireland?' The reason is because we're part of Europe. We still get a great share of foreign direct investment. In U.S. investment round the world, Ireland gets more than China. When the argument comes down to hard facts, people...