Ireland is still an intimate, close-knit society, despite the changes over the last few years

‘Mind you – I’ve said nothing’, says Mary Kenny.

In 1953, the satirical writer and novelist Honor Tracy published a book about Ireland called “Mind You – I’ve Said Nothing!” It caused uproar: the Englishwoman had insulted just about every sacred value in Irish life, notably the Catholic Church, Irish nationalism, the Irish language and obsession with partition. But the book was indeed amusing and the late Ms Tracy – who was outspoken about everything, except the fact that she was Seán O Faoiláin’s mistress – touched many nerves. The title itself is telling, and was repeated, in another form by the poet Seamus Heaney, with his caution: “whatever you say, say nothing!”