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After spending years reporting from Africa and the Middle East, Ed O’Loughlin has returned to Ireland and settled down with his young family. But the characters inspired by his time as a foreign correspondent live on in the pages of his debut novel, writes ARMINTA WALLACE.

‘THE CHARACTERS ARE not real people,” says Ed O’Loughlin of his debut novel, Not Untrue And Not Unkind. “And the narrator isn’t me.” But hang on a minute. A group of foreign correspondents in Africa. A lot of boozing and bitching and jostling for pole position back at the office. A total disregard for the humanity of the people they’re writing about. Enough big egos to inflate a universe. Not real? Is he kidding? I’m sure I spotted Kate Adie. And what about John Simpson?