A Nation Once Again

by Paul Howard

Brought 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’Bric 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.

Genres: Fiction, Irish Literature, Audiobook, Ireland

394 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 27, 2026

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name

Reviews

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There's only one idea more foolish than dividing Ireland - and that's putting it back together again." Puckoon, Spike Milligan

But that is exactly what the retired Irish Ambassador to Beijing, Fiach O'Bric, is asked to do. And it turns out he isn't the only one. Along with an entire office full of suspicious and/or useless characters Fiach and a committee from Northern Ireland and Eire are ready to try to iron out the tiny differences between the two in preparation for reunification - should it ever come about.

I'm joking of course - the small difference s are, in fact, whopping great chasms - from the flag, national anthem, education to gerrymandering the electorate the committee meets regularly to completely disagree with each other while Fiach quietly bangs his head against his desk and wonders where he went wrong in life.

Paul Howard gives us a very funny look at exactly how bad any attempt at reunification could be and it does give pause for thought as to how a country so bitterly divided could ever work in harmony. Still, the Germans managed it so ...

Highly recommended.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Penguin General UK for the digital review copy.

[Aoife D · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

A great satirical read. I really empathised with caoilfhionn, I’m aware she’s supposed to be a feral republican but she was the only character talking any sense. Never worked in the civil service but I can only imagine the book nicely reflects the incompetencies that are ubiquitous within it, showing the Peter principle in action.

[Jane Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny book, Malachy brought the humour in a big way. Tbf all the characters were such a high point of the book, really well written.
Any book that takes the piss out of the civil service and its incompetence is a winner to me.
It made light of a huge topic of the reunification of Ireland without trivialising it (low key it did but it was funny).

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got off to a shaky start but really grew on me and delivered by the end. I love a book that makes me laugh out loud and a book that makes me laugh out loud about the civil service is even better. Safe to say I’ve sat through a few meetings like the Advisory Council.

[Rai · Rating 4 out of 5]

An hilarious, and depressingly realistic, portrayal of working in the Irish Civil Service.

[Maggie Power · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! The characters were funny and it presented the nuances of unification in a really accessible way.

[Pgmcc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Howard is known for his humorous writings about Ross O’Carroll Kelly, the stereotypical spoilt South Dublin man who is all rugby and not much else. In “A Nation Once Again” Howard has written a humorous book but this time has addressed a very serious topic as the main theme of his story, the unification of Ireland. This is a very serious topic for many people and while it has been around for over one hundred years it is experiencing an upswing in interest at the moment due to various factors including a changing demographic and unusual political changes in Britain. As a topic it is becoming a real subject of debate and there are a number of organisations pushing for a referendum on the topic, and also a number of organisations who do not want such a referendum to happen.

Paul Howard has done the Irish people a real service by producing this book at this time. While it is promoted primarily as a humorous read it is more important as it presents some of the real issues involved in any effort to unite the two parts of Ireland. It presents them in a balanced and straightforward fashion and leaves the reader with a clear understanding of the difficulties faced by any attempt to unite North and South. These topics are discussed in a way that makes the reader aware of the problems involved and bypasses the emotional and sentimental arguments put forward by the proponents for and against a united Ireland. It is stated in the book that the work carried out by the secret civil service department looking at the practicalities of uniting Ireland is to ensure Ireland does not make a mistake like Brexit.

There are other books, such as “For and Against a United Ireland” by Fintan O’Toole and Sam McBride that present the pros and cons in an informative but formal fashion. Paul Howard’s “A Nation One Again” presents a fun way to become familiar with the issues. I hope a great many people read this book before any referendum on unifying Ireland takes place.

As a humorous book I would give this 3.5 stars out of 5. As a contribution to the debate on unifying Ireland I would give it 5 stars.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/a-nation-once-again-by-paul-howard/

Paul Howard is the creator of Ross O’Carroll Kelly, a one-joke satirical column which has run in the Sunday Tribune and Irish Times since 1998 and has turned into a series of novels as well. Here he turns his gaze to Irish reunification, imagining a secret office of the Department for Foreign Affairs which has been planning for the great day since the 1950s.

The former head of the department (who refuses to go away) is an Irish version of Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb from Slow Horses; the Northerners are all stereotypes; the Southerners are mostly stereotypes; there’s even a stereotypical Australian academic; there is a late effort to insert an emotional dimension by resurrecting the protagonist’s love life; in general it’s about as good a book as you’d expect. If you like the Ross O’Carroll Kelly stuff, you’ll like this. (I think I’ve made my own position clear.)

At the same time, maybe it’s not such a bad way of gently unpacking some of the issues around reunification for a Southern readership that may not have given it much thought.

[liam kelleher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first Paul Howard book ( Not a fan of the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly D4 books ). Such a good idea with some great characters.....although if Malachy had eaten himself to death in chapter 2 I wouldn't have mourned him. I also find it difficult to read humourous books as I've been reared on Tom Sharpe & nothing comes close to him unfortunately. I will admit that some of this book had some Tom Sharpe in there which made the book quite funny. I loved the parts on the National Anthem, the flag & the new Dail in the centre of Ireland. Hopefully I'm not giving too much away there. The characters on both sides of the border where good although I'm not sure I understand why the Unionists in the North could speak Irish while the Nationalists could not. That went over my head. The ending was never going to be easy so it wasn't a surprise when the author took the easy way out although I think this pleased most people. I'm wondering if they'll be a follow up in a few years depending on the political situation......I'll definitely buy that !

[Marcus Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought this was a great satire on a secret department responsible for laying the groundwork of the reunification of Ireland. Few times have I read a book and laughed out loud but the dialogue and the pace is terrific and the story is good. Most of characters are well thought out and add to the story, my only complaint is that Malachi I found to be incredibly annoying and don't understand why he's not just fired? Other than that really enjoyed this one

[Christal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought it at the airport in Dublin and I laughed to tears while reading it in the waiting area. I first tried to suppress my laughter because I felt embarrassed for laughing out alone (would the other people think I'm crazy?). Then I didn't care anymore. The lady sitting next to me said she would put it on her reading list.

[Kelly Gamble · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never read Howard’s infamous other books, and I was worried the satire would become tiresome, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! It’s well paced, surprisingly thought-provoking and with fully considered characters (Mallachy my fav!) I highly recommend the audio book of it to get the full experience of the accents and dynamics.

[Ms Hazel Tragy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. I enjoyed the (pretty accurate) depiction of civil servants and the descriptions of DeV. I found the committee discussions funny, and now I know the geographical centre of Ireland.

[Cian Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very funny moments, especially from Malachi. Felt it was wrapped up neatly and could very well have gone on for another 100 pages. I have a feeling there will be a sequel or series of these books.

[Colin Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant satire on the complex relationship between the island of Ireland and the United Kingdom or Great Britain, whatever you want to call it. It’s a must read for anyone interested in Irish history and Irish politics, in my opinion. Highly recommended.

[Aidan Finnegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well structured, frequently hilarious, and surprisingly informative book about this little-known government department. Sometimes reads a bit like a screenplay, I was casting it as I went along. One small observation: "inching our way up the M1 towards Ballymun" is not a thing.

[Adam Moore McCarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find it hard for books to make me laugh out loud but I did a few times at this. Very easy read that I thoroughly enjoyed, Malachi was my favourite character. Not quite 5 stars but don’t quite know what was missing. 4.5/5

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could rate this book higher I would, truely exceptional and loved every minute of it

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious, laughed out loud many times. Characters are brilliant.

[Gráinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listen to the audiobook, I laughed out loud!

[Enda Hackett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great characters well worth the read

[Linda Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is amusing, some times laugh out loud funny. But the silliness got to me numerous times. It just wasn’t great for me.

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m struggling to think of comparisons to this book other than The Pale King, and there are few compliments higher than that in my book.

[Killian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, cheesy in parts but pretty entertaining all round

[Mairead · Rating 2 out of 5]

Daft

[Aidan Kernan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious book with some interesting aspects to the prospect of a united Ireland.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humourous take on what would be a massive undertaking. Malachi is a very funny character.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Centrist prop

[Patricia Power · Rating 4 out of 5]

A national once again by Paul Howard. ‘There’s only one idea more foolish than dividing Ireland and that’s trying to put it back together again’ A satirical view of getting to a united ireland. Retired ambassador Fiach O Brick is lured out of retirement to head up a secret government department tasked with laying the ground work for a united ireland. He chairs a group from both sides who talk about the flag, the language, the capital, the guards/police and the steadfast views are very opposing but told in a hilarious way . Well worth a read