Noel Whelan is the author and co-author of a number of previous books on politics, elections and electoral law in Ireland. He writes a weekly political column for the Irish Times and is a regular commentator on politics and current affairs for the broadcast media. He previously worked as a special advisor to the Minister for European Affairs and the Departments of An Taoiseach and Foreign Affairs. He currently works as a barrister practising on the Dublin and South Eastern circuits.
The 2011 edition of The Tallyman’s Campaign Handbook by Noel Whelan represents only the third guide ever published in advance of an Irish election. It provides a uniquely detailed and comprehensive analysis of the Irish election process, outlining the most likely candidates for the upcoming election and tracing the country’s changing political landscape, constituency by constituency.
Noel Whelan’s 2011 Campaign Handbook is a perfect companion for those election aficionados wishing to follow the election results as they happen. Along with a general introduction and outline of recent constituency changes, this guide systematically covers the country constituency by constituency. It details the names of known candidates and the standing of each party in a particular constituency.
A must have for all election enthusiasts, The Tallyman’s Campaign Handbook profiles the party strengths and personalities, the rows and rivalries which will shape the battle for seats in each constituency. It provides all the detailed information necessary to guide readers through what is set to be the most dramatic Irish election contest ever.
Sometimes, it takes a lifetime to become an overnight success
Last Friday, I took part in a (virtual) session at the Science Foundation Ireland Summit on writing, and publishing, books on scientific subjects. It was a jolly event, and even included some discussion on strong language, Fergus Shanahan taking issue with Luke O’Neill over the title of his new book – and pointing out that there was a well-known north Dublin variant of the word “b#llocks” that he should have used instead. It was a nice moment. You probably had to be there.
One of the things I liked about the session (particularly the pre-event chit-chat*) was the talk of rock and roll. I’m more used to literary-type events (rather than science-type ones), and I don’t think music, of any kind, has ever featured – at least not that I can remember. Perhaps I’ve been hanging out with the wrong people all this time. In fact, I’m reminded of the words of one of my heroes, the doctor-poet William Carlos Williams, giving advice to younger poets on looking for readers among what we would now call the science community, “From among whom some of your best readers will come, if you have any sense.”
I digress. The panellists said many interesting things, and of the several memorable things Fergus said, one has stuck in my head. When he was asked by the host, Claire O’Connell (herself co-author of a fine book, just published, on, and with, the Nobel laureate William C. Campbell**), about his writing process, Fergus responded: “I’ve basically been writing this book for the last forty years.” Obviously not literally, but you get the point: he has distilled his professional, and personal, experiences, into a couple of hundred pages of text. This might make the book sound dry and uninteresting. It is not. It is warm, readable, and above all, deeply human, and humane. Unlike with many books, you feel as though you’re being addressed by a real, live human being, not an expert, pontificating from on high. And how refreshing that is, in the age of the algorithm. In short, it’s a remarkable piece of work; I defy anyone not to find something of value in it.
In fact, I would go further, and say that, based on the couple of hundred books I’ve published, and the hundreds more I’ve edited, The Language of Illness is something approaching a masterpiece. You needn’t take my word for it. (Nor should you: I have a vested interest in the book succeeding; skin in the game, as they say in poker circles.) Muiris Houston called the book “wonderful”; Deirdre McGrath, “a must-read”; John F. Deane, “a treasure”; Deirdre Bennett, “a tour de force”; and Desmond O’Neill, “a classic”. And that’s just a handful of them – and very shortened versions, at that. (You can blame Twitter’s character-limit.)
Annie Proulx’s novel The Shipping News was published when she was fifty-eight. For my money, she is the finest living writer of English (as opposed to “English writer”). But she didn’t exactly rush into it, did she? I don’t know how old Fergus is, but it would be fair to say that he isn’t a blushing ingénue. And The Language of Illness is not his first book. He’s the author of around 750 publications and articles. I’m not familiar with them. As I said, I’ve obviously been hanging out with the wrong people. Come to think of it, he’s about as far from being a “celebrity author” as you could hope to find. He may have to get used to dealing with a little more attention in the future.
Publishing history is littered with could be described as glorious failures: books which, for whatever reason, were virtually forgotten soon after seeing the light of day. Well, it’s not happening this time. Not on my watch.
Seán O’Keeffe is the Publisher at Liberties Press
Prof John Crown’s review of The Language of Illness is in today’s Irish Times. Don’t leave it too long to order your copy (of the book, that is). There were only 1000 copies of Ulysses printed in the first run. It would be nice to have one now. In the words of the inimitable Harvey Norman: once they’re gone, they’re gone.
* Chitchat features in The Language of Illness – on page 66, as you ask.
** If you asked a person on the street to name as many of Ireland’s Nobel laureates as they could, a fair few would be able to reel off one or all of the “awesome foursome” (to quote, of all people, the British PM) of Heaney, Yeats, Beckett and Shaw. (The fact that you know who they are based on their surnames alone, tells its own story.) One or two might even give you Seán MacBride. I’d hazard that not many would say William C. Campbell. And Ernest Walton – another scientist – is not exactly a household name either. Another situation that needs changing.
