He has five children: Anna and Sarah from his marriage to solicitor Vivienne Shields; Dashiel and Daniel from his current marriage to Brenda Rawn and a child from a brief relationship with architect Mary O'Donoghue.

Good friends and fellow Dubliners Bono and Ali Hewson named their first daughter, Jordan, who was born in 1989, after him.

His father, a university professor, would never let him read comic books, but read them himself so he knew what children would be interested in.

Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1992.

Is the award-winning author of a number of acclaimed novels and collections of stories. Nearly all his stories are set in Ireland and most deal with the subjects of children, family relationships and childhood memories.