In popular Irish mythology it's often said that the seeds of the Celtic Tiger were sown shortly after Italia '90, when the country's team reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup soccer tournament for the first time.
THE GUTS, by Roddy Doyle. Jonathan Cape, 2013, 336 pp., £12.99 (hardcover)
Halfway through "The Guts," Jimmy Rabbitte's father reminds him just how important this sporting event was for the Irish national psyche of the time: "We felt great about ourselves. For years after. An' tha' only changed a few years back. Now we're useless cunts again."