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A Nation Once Again: The hilarious new satirical novel from the bestselling author of the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly books
Not yet published
Expected 27 Aug 26Brought to you by Penguin.
The hilarious new satire from the bestselling author of the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series
There’s only one idea more foolish than dividing Ireland – and that’s trying to put it back together again.
Meet Fiach O’ career diplomat, recent widower, and a man looking forward to a peaceful retirement. But just when he thinks he's out, he is strong-armed into taking over a shadowy top-secret department tasked with preparing for a United Ireland — a job so surreal it makes his last posting, in Beijing, seem like a Buddhist retreat.
Running the Department with Responsibility for Making Arrangements for the Unification of Ireland, an outfit quietly failing since 1958, Fiach finds himself managing a team of oddballs, timeservers, and a die-hard nationalist from Dundalk. And he spends his days refereeing rows about everything everyone has failed to agree for about 800 years, as well as absurd new suggestions – like conjuring a capital city that nobody actually wants. In Westmeath. Nothing is too crazy to be proposed, nor too sensible to be rejected.
Fiach can feel the hand of history on his shoulder. He suspects it may soon throttle him.
Yet, against his better judgement — and all available evidence — a dangerous thought takes hold. What if he could be the one to do what Tone, Pearse and centuries of Irish martyrs failed to make Ireland one, and somehow not die in the process.
Dream on, Fiach.
‘Our nation’s greatest satirist’ Irish Times
‘One of the funniest writers in the country’ RTÉ Radio 1
© Paul Howard 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
The hilarious new satire from the bestselling author of the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series
There’s only one idea more foolish than dividing Ireland – and that’s trying to put it back together again.
Meet Fiach O’ career diplomat, recent widower, and a man looking forward to a peaceful retirement. But just when he thinks he's out, he is strong-armed into taking over a shadowy top-secret department tasked with preparing for a United Ireland — a job so surreal it makes his last posting, in Beijing, seem like a Buddhist retreat.
Running the Department with Responsibility for Making Arrangements for the Unification of Ireland, an outfit quietly failing since 1958, Fiach finds himself managing a team of oddballs, timeservers, and a die-hard nationalist from Dundalk. And he spends his days refereeing rows about everything everyone has failed to agree for about 800 years, as well as absurd new suggestions – like conjuring a capital city that nobody actually wants. In Westmeath. Nothing is too crazy to be proposed, nor too sensible to be rejected.
Fiach can feel the hand of history on his shoulder. He suspects it may soon throttle him.
Yet, against his better judgement — and all available evidence — a dangerous thought takes hold. What if he could be the one to do what Tone, Pearse and centuries of Irish martyrs failed to make Ireland one, and somehow not die in the process.
Dream on, Fiach.
‘Our nation’s greatest satirist’ Irish Times
‘One of the funniest writers in the country’ RTÉ Radio 1
© Paul Howard 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
394 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication August 27, 2026
About the author
Paul Howard
114 books2 followersLibrarian note:
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There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name
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