You can't be in a situation where you are not happy. It's as simple as that.

The school I went to was so Gaelic that you learned how to play the tin whistle and how to Irish-dance in class.

Why can't we actually sing and get respected as good singers and songwriters without having our boobs and butt hanging out?

I went to Irish dance when I was four. I was playing the tin whistle when I was five. So I think certain things are bred into you.

Room service is nice. Ooh-la-la, a hotel. At home, it's laundry and school lunches.

In Canada, anything that's not in the city is referred to as a cottage. Or a log cabin.

We all wonder about death, where people go and what happens. But certainly, they cross over from this dimension to another one.

I love to go home to my kids. I don't have that lull in my life when I didn't have them.

The feeling that's in your heart all the time comes out spiritually in your voice and the music.

I lived in a small village outside the city and grew up in a large family, so my world was very much centred around that. I used to sing in the local church, and I would also occasionally sing in the local pubs for which I used to get a few bob. That, for me, was the start of my interest in music, which has obviously expanded since then.

I've come to the conclusion that life is for the taking and just too short to dwell on the negative.

'Linger' was the first song I wrote after joining the Cranberries. I was 18, and the youngest member of the band was 16 at the time. We never imagined it'd be such a big hit.

Growing up, there was a lot of pressure for women to be good-looking, but my mum was very strict, and she didn't allow me to wear make-up. Looking back, it was good for me. It slowed me down from becoming an adult too quickly.

I am just trying to live for my kids. It is all about my kids now. I love them endlessly.

Sometimes your kids give you that shove out the door to do things that you need. Teenagers are good that way; they keep you in the loop.

I didn't know initially whether I'd like doing TV and whether I'd be able to work with other people. I've always done my own thing. I've never put myself into that situation, but it's the most fun I've had in years.

I was so young when I got so famous, and then I kind of put up a wall around myself. I didn't really want to show people any fragilities or fears; I was trying to be this tough person that I felt was expected of me.

What's amazing is - I actually have problems getting it into my head - Canada is so big, right? And Ireland's small, you know; you drive from coast to coast in three hours.

For an artist or an entertainer, it's the ultimate when you can go to the forest when you're done your work and escape.

A lot of these songs just came from day-to-day experiences. And it was a very natural, kind of organic process.

When The Cranberries got really big in Ireland, it became difficult for me to be there with all the photographers and paparazzi.

Only we were in The Cranberries. Only we know what it was like being in that crazy whirlwind of fame. We have children and spouses and lives, but there is only one Cranberries.

My father, I spent a lot of time with him at the hospital. I was with him when he took his last breath, but I felt something coming from him into my hand and into my body.

I think there's a difference between somebody who grows up in Paris or London and goes to Los Angeles. But if you grow up in the green fields, and you rarely go into the city, you're so overprotected that when you do go to L.A., it's almost a bigger slap in the head.

My husband Don's mother, Denise, was diagnosed with cancer, and she was given eight months to live. We decided to go and stay there and help live her days with her, 'cause you don't get those chances again, right?

I didn't get a lot of attention from my dad when I was young. That's a big part of it for girls. Because your dad is the first love of your life. If he doesn't put you on his lap and give you a pet, you do end up not really liking yourself that much.

I was 19 when I wrote 'Dreams,' and that would have been when it started to happen. The band got signed, and I was probably beginning to see different things besides my small town of Ballybricken.

It's very difficult to break in Europe unless you break in England, and it's very difficult to break in England if you're Irish.

When I was about 14, I got a tacky keyboard for 250 pounds and put on a drum machine and found I could write a song.

I worked myself into a frenzy. By 1996, I had a nervous breakdown just from working. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, just getting anxiety attacks and all of that stuff because I was doing too much, too young, all the time.

It was different to what everyone else was doing. It was very hard to pigeonhole The Cranberries. And we were just huge; it was just sensational.

We have a certain bond that we don't have with anyone else on the planet. You just have that bond, that journey when you are in a band together.

For a while there, our writing got really edgy... I've always written about experiences, so when your life gets a bit crazy, you start to write songs that are a bit edgy.

There's always a party in my bus.

I hated singing, I hated being on stage; I hated being in the Cranberries. I was constantly crying. I was going insane. I wanted to be a shopkeeper, a hairdresser, anything. I was so desperate to have a reality, friends, a regular, boring life. I missed that.

When I got pregnant, I started singing again. It was my saving grace. I literally mean having this amazing human life, and our relationship in the sense of mother and child, redeemed my soul.

I missed a lot of family weddings and funerals because we were out on the road and had these big gigs, and you can't pull out of these gigs at the last minute because too many people are counting on it. It got to the point where I was consumed with that.

Each gig is brilliant and fun. When it becomes a routine, we'll take a break. There's no point in doing it if you don't enjoy it.

My parents were in the local church choir, and I used to go along and sing and play the organ at all the weddings and christenings.

It was great about the sizes of the audiences we were getting in America, but sometimes you feel like telling some of the men that you're not on stage to have your body looked at.

I write about what is getting to me at the time, about the things you need to talk about, but which would sound silly if you sat down and told them to your friend. I only write for myself, to get my emotions out. It's self-therapeutic.

I remember when MTV first put 'Linger' in heavy rotation, every time I walked into a diner or a hotel lobby, it was like, 'Jesus, man, here I am again.'

You get older and come to the conclusion that it's a great gig making music. Even if you turn into an old gnarly fart, no one cares what you look like if you write good songs - the only gig is to sing well and perform.

When you're on tour too much or on stage too much, you feel like you have to deliver and get this super-hyped vibe going.

The first album didn't become successful until the second was practically written.

We were never a frivolous band; we prided ourselves on having something to say, and I think that's what gives your songs longevity.

It's amazing to see anyone come out, let alone tell you they have been waiting so long. They are loyal people, our fans.

Luckily I don't have a sinful past, because there's nothing you can hide from your kids now.

I was at that point where my children needed more than going around the planet in the back of a bus. They needed stability, they needed to build their own lives and relationships, and I needed to put my life on hold. I made my choice - I chose my children.

I keep my children safe and protected from all my baggage. They get to have a normal childhood, and they're not affected by my life.