Quotes OF THE WEEK

‘Barbed wire, used properly, can be a beautiful sight.’

Donald Trump, on new security measures at the US-Mexico border

‘Sixteen-year-old me is crying.’

Tasha, an Irish Twitter user, responding to the news that the reformed Spice Girls tour will not be coming to Ireland

‘Everybody asks me am I worried about winter. I’m actually worried about the capacity of the health service every day of the week.’

Simon Harris, Health Minister

‘Dark when I go to work, dark when I come home… I really should pay that electricity bill.’

Pearly, Twitter user

‘I looked in the mirror, I checked myself out. I was like: “Yeah, you are kind of sexy today.”’

Idris Elba, actor, on learning that People Magazine had named him 2018’s Sexiest Man Alive

‘I’ve always been Granny Spice with biscuits in my handbag.’

Geri Horner, ditching her Ginger Spice nickname as the band reunites for a UK tour

‘I am a young god. I can have all the girls I want, but not after I tell them that I’m 69.’

Emile Ratelband, who is taking a case in the Netherlands to change his age in the same way others legally change sex

‘When I told my career guidance teacher I wanted to be a pop star in my 20s, then a novelist in my 30s, she told me I was mentally ill. This was all very invigorating. Encouragement is greatly overrated.’

Julian Gough, on growing up in Nenagh, Co Tipperary; he went on to become a pop singer and then a novelist