Alan Kelly

"Anybody who says that power isn’t attractive is telling you a lie. Of course it is. It’s obviously a drug. It’s attractive. It’s something you thrive on. It suits some people. It doesn’t suit others. I think it suits me."

"I don’t judge people. Everyone’s entitled to their own religion. I respect religion. I respect people’s views. I’m not a fan of crossing over religion and politics. My mother is devoutly religious and I respect her for that. Am I a practising Catholic? I am, I suppose, to some point. There’s some very good things about all kinds of religion. Obviously, there’s loads of bad things: we’ve a lot of legacy issues in this country from religion and that needs to be dealt with. The whole sense of community that comes from Church-going is a great thing."

"Do I believe that prostitution should be legalised? No, I don’t. I think that it would open up other issues, which could be quite dangerous for society."

"It is nothing if not ironic that the man that the Labour Party will most likely chose to save the day in the face of the relentless and inexorable electoral onslaught of Sinn Féin is someone who delights in his own nomme de guerre, AK47. Alan Kelly not only likes his soubriquet but relishes in his characterisation of someone who shoots from the hip, takes no prisoners and gets things done."

"The Labour leader may have mellowed with age but the TD once dubbed AK47 still has targets."