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For Colum McCann, the Dublin-born, New York-based writer whose ‘ Let the Great World Spin’ won the US National Book Award on Wednesday night, the prestigious accolade helped make up for Ireland’s defeat to France – just about, he tells FIONA McCANN

‘IT WAS A mad night,” admits a giddy Colum McCann only hours after his propulsion onto the American literary A-list thanks to his National Book Award win. Having watched as much of the Ireland-France game as he could on Wednesday night, he hightailed it off for the glamorous awards ceremony – over 600 guests paid up to $12,000 (€8,050) per table to attend the black-tie affair – with Ireland still one-nil up. “We got out of the subway at Wall Street, and we heard that France had scored.”