What makes us tick — and thick

From mammies to moving statues, spuds to Tayto sandwiches, two new books reveal what it means to be Irish, says Jonathan deBurca Butler

WHAT makes us Irish? Is it the spud, the local pub or the way that Sally O’Brien, from the 1980’s Harp advertisement, ‘might look at you’ with her big hair and glossy lipstick?

A new book by Colin Murphy and Donal O’Dea, More Stuff Irish People Love, sheds light on the things that make us tick and thick.