Shane Boyd (40) and his younger brother Dermot (37) were born in Belfast, where they lived until their parents, an architect and interior designer, moved the family to Dublin in 1978.
Shane is a specialist hair cutter and owns the laid-back, musak-free salon called The Natural Cut on 34 Wicklow Street. Dermot is an award-winning architect with Boyd Cody Architects, who also lectures in Bolton Street. His current projects include Monaghan County Offices and two houses in Dublin.
In 1999, they famously bought a site together in Rathmines with Dermot's college friend, Paul Kelly ('our brother-in-the-hood') and built three mews in a row for themselves. Dermot's is all white; Shane's interior a more playful orange and blue. The project won an Architectural Association of Ireland award and is generally recognised and envied both for its design and as a brilliant response to the Dublin property conundrum.
SHANE
Dermot has always been my life support and as we've got older, my affection and regard and love has grown. Having him next door is all the more important since we were "abandoned" by our parents seven years ago [they moved back North]. When one has only one sibling, it's vital to get on, and we have always understood that.
We had the usual childhood wrestling matches and so on, but I honestly don't have any bad memories, any stories to tell. Of course we drifted apart during college years, and afterwards I went to London for a while and then to Spain, but when I came back we picked up our relationship. We can always get together to offload, which means we can usually resolve any problems quickly and will not hesitate to give one another an immediate opinion.
Designing the house was a great project. I felt very positive the whole way through because I have every regard for Dermot and Paul's work - I really have to include Paul Kelly in this, and his partner Deirdre, our sister-in-the-hood.
We are very good at having fun; we were raised in a positive household and we have continued the tradition. Our parents are highly social animals and that's true of both of us. We grew up visiting and looking at buildings. It was a very creative and social environment and we enjoy entertaining as a matter of course. The house is open to fun and good chat.
Dermot is more the thinker and I the wit. He is certainly more book-driven - I'll never forget having to move his library of architecture books from the fourth storey of a Georgian house - I never want to do that again.
Dermot is passionate about architecture and I have the highest regard for his work. It is a tough world - much tougher than people generally understand - and a lot of his time is taken up with clients and builders, which can be difficult. But architecture is a pure vocation for him. He also loves teaching and lectures at Bolton Street. He has a huge facility for recall and can communicate and pass on knowledge with real interest.
At the end of the day, the memories are of friends, family and good fun. We've never fallen out. I know there is always someone there to back me up. Denise and I are having our first baby in February and no doubt Dermot will be as successful as an uncle as he has been as my brother.
DERMOT
First of all I have to say I love him dearly ... he is my big brother and was always there as my protector and supporter. Great to have from a young age because he tested the waters first and could tell me how to snog girls and important things like that. His support has continued throughout the years.
Childhood memories? I always quote Joyce: "I don't remember anything - only ideas and sensations". But, every weekend we went to my mother's family farm in Warringstown, Co Down, which we loved. Idyllic country life and all that. Shane is still interested in farming and we often talk about buying a plot of land in the country where I can grow my trees and Shane can do the farming.
He would be the first person I would turn to in a crisis - if we had one. He is my confidante, my counsel and he knows more about me than anyone. Shane is extremely popular and much loved. He is a better person than I am. He takes life less seriously, I suppose. He has a great sense of humour, he makes us laugh. He makes Denise - his fiancée - laugh, too.
He has an infectious personality and I enjoy his company, both as a friend and brother. He is always entertaining in some way or other. We are known by a number of names: friends joke about finding themselves in the middle of the Boyd sandwich or refer to us as Boyd Brothers International. And Shane came up with The PMT Club - the once-a-month nightclub - in the 1990s. It was very successful, especially as a means for entertaining our friends. He is a real entrepreneur and has guts. He is good at entertaining himself, too, and has a huge collection of toys - from a tandem to a speedboat. The back of his Range Rover is like a toy box. Needless to say, he is very popular with children.
We've lived in our individual houses since 1999 and we all get on. His colour scheme was radical; he has an extremely good eye and good taste - both different to mine. There is no friction. We can disappear behind our separate doors or we can peer out and meet each other, which we do more often than not. And then we might have dinner.