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Fermoy native, Colin Carroll, back in the spotlight. Photo: The Avondhu (file picture 2010)

Former Fermoy solicitor Colin Carroll has never been far from the limelight and right now, a new book entitled 'Numb - diary of a war correspondent' has thrown him right back under the spotlight.

Colin, who admits to being the ghost writer for the book published recently by Liberties Press, has come under fire as to the genre of the book.

The argument centres around whether the book is a novel or a work of non-fiction and was traced back to an edition of The Avondhu of 2010 (May 27 edition) by local writer Donal O'Keeffe in which Colin told our reporter of that time, Brian Moore: "I also have my first novel Numb with my literary agent in London". He explained that the idea for Numb came to him in the summer of 2008 while in Dubrovnik when he became 'disturbed as to how the war was being glossed over'.

The publishers say the book is not just chronicle of war correspondent Alan Buckby's life and work, "it is also a chronicle of his efforts to understand his own fascination with torture, sexual violence and murder, and his wife's attempt to understand how the man she knew as her husband and the father to her children could have been involved on such horrors.

"Buckby died in 2014 and it was then that his wife Kay discovered his secrets in his diaries and notebooks. Working with a ghost writer (Louis La Roc, aka Colin Carroll), she reconstructed her husband’s real life. This book is the result."

EMOTIONALLY AFFECTED

An article in The Irish Times stated that during an interview with him, Colin Carroll seemed to be both emotionally affected by the dark material in Numb and keen to disassociate himself from it, saying: “For Christmas this year you had Christmas turkey,” for Christmas this year I had tears”. When asked why should this story be told, Colin said “I don’t particularly feel it needs to be told. I’m a ghostwriter. I get paid for a job," and insisted: "All this information happened. This is true.”

Colin, who states that he has not worked as a solicitor with the family law firm in Fermoy since late 2010, has also written a screenplay entitled 'Just Ryan' which, he says, was inspired by Europe’s largest drug bust in West Cork.

In 2011, Colin organised the Paddy Games (the alternative Olympics) in Cork. He has also co-hosted the BBC and RTÉ TV show 'Colin and Graham’s Big Adventure', launched the merchandising brand called Irish Empire and amongst his many feats, boasts of being a mountain climber, a pilot, elephant polo champion and has even attempted a career as Ireland’s only sumo wrestler!

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