Pierce Hanley, 7: ‘Who is Roy Keane? I think he is a Cork man. Is he famous for hurling?’

[ irishtimes.com/generations ]

Pierce Hanley lives in Cork city

The best thing that ever happened to me was learning to play football. I like running and tackling and passing and trying to score. I don’t watch football on telly, though. I only watch rugby on telly.

Who is Roy Keane? I think he is a Cork man. Is he famous for hurling?

Grown-ups are more intelligent than children. Smarter. That’s because they have already gone through school and college. I think when you are 20 you are grown up and old. The oldest person I know is my mother.

I think the good thing about being a child is that you can have fun and sneak up on people to surprise them.

Sometimes my brother, Phelim, sneaks up on me and scares me. He’s six. He is very annoying.

I have a keyboard in my bedroom, and I practise a lot. It’s not my favourite instrument, though. My favourite instrument is the guitar. I’d like to learn to play the guitar next, but not an electric guitar, because it might hurt my ears if I turn it up too much.

Sometimes I wonder what my cousins are doing at the same time that I am thinking about them. A few live in Ireland, and one lives in Scotland, and the oldest cousin lives in Australia. I think about them because I hope they’re okay and stuff.

I believe in God. God is like magic. He lives in heaven. The space outside space is heaven. His job is to keep people safe. God’s job is to protect the world, because God made everything.

Jesus is the captain of heaven, and he owns the angels. Judas is the king of hell, and he owns the devils. Hell is a giant place of fire.

What makes me happy is playing tag, and playing hide and seek. My brother is very annoying, but I suppose I like playing with him. If I didn’t have a brother I could only play with my dog.

I get pocket money of €1 if I get 10 out of 10 in the test we have at school every Friday. Last time was two weeks ago. I got €1 the first time from the tooth fairy, and €1.40 the second time. I’ve only lost two teeth so far. Tooth fairies are small, about the size of my hand, and girl fairies go to girls and boy fairies go to boys.

When I am older I want to be a banker or a football player. What does a banker do? They give money to banks, and then get it out when the money gets bigger. So if I gave €10 to a bank, they would keep it for me and store it, and then I’d buy a car with it when I’m older. I would buy a Jaguar. I like Jaguars, because they go fast.