PAUL Shannon is a cute Corkman who set out from Cork, 'did' Ireland on a budget of 20 a day, and came home with money over. He encounters road rage in Dublin:

"Get off the road, yeh bollocks yeh." In Norn Irrrnn he asks "Will there ever be a United Ireland?"

"No surrender, " comes the answer. "Now, on yer bike!"

Perceptive, humorous and a good read.

A Survivor's Guide to Living in Ireland By Tom Richards Storylines Entertainment npa 208pps

LATEST to join the I Love Ireland Appreciation Society, Richards has not as much as a drop of Irish blood in his left earlobe, so at least there is no maudlin sentimentality in his beginner's guide to the Oul Sod. The book is aimed at other Yanks thinking of moving to Ireland, particularly those who have idealised Ireland into an unrecognisable theme park.

Stories Behind My News Pictures By Pat Maxwell Choice Publishing & Book Services npa 167 pps

CHARMING, large format book by the 'ace' press photographer of his day, revealing a less traumatised Dublin than today's.

Subjects to enliven the narrative include a pride of lions on the loose in Lucan, a vaporous Peter Sellers, and the Green Tureen murder of 1963, a story that sold more newspapers in those innocent days than the sinking of the Titanic.

Lifelines: New and Collected Town House npa 318pps

THIS innovative idea . . . letters from public people about their favourite poem and why it is their favourite . . . is on its third and, sadly, final edition. What readers will find intriguing is that the poems chosen by individuals do not always match the image those individuals present to the world. What are we to make, for example, of the poet Peter Fallon's choice of the prayer Hail Mary?

The Chase By Candida Clark Headline Books £8 339pps

THE publishers claim that Clark's novel is the first anti-fox hunting paean to come on the market since the 'sport' was banned in Britain last February. The book, then, was turned out at a lively lick and it shows. There is some sloppy writing plus a clutter of cliches which suggests Clark was moving as swiftly as the Quick Brown Fox. The setting is Big House. Loads of sexual trembling between the Jilly Cooperish satin sheets.