VB: Ah, come on, there's 10 years' poor performance in share prices. That's almost unique.
MR: The industry is growing; it's not just unique to Smurfits. Have you looked at what has been happening in that sector [the cardboard box sector]? It's not unique to Smurfits.
VB: Do you think it's a good thing for the same person to hold the position of chairman and chief executive officer [Michael Smurfit holds both positions in Smurfits]?
MR: That again is a question that is much debated and financial institutions and investors don't have any difficulties with it.
VB: What do you think?
MR: I think that in a company, if there is somebody who is in a position of chairman and chief executive . . . a lot of it, I suppose, depends on the individual that you're talking about. I'm sitting on the board of Smurfits. I'm not unhappy with it.
VB: Are you happy with it?
MR: I'm not unhappy with it.
VB: But you won't say you're happy with it.
MR: Well, if you want me to say I'm happy with it, I will. What I'm saying is that all of these issues, it's like everything else, there are arguments for and arguments against and there are so many different views on it. I'm not unhappy with it.
VB: Were you surprised to be invited on to the RTE Authority.
MR: No. I am invited on to a lot of things and I say No to more than I say Yes to.
VB: Why did you say Yes to the RTE Authority?
MR: Well, would you believe it, I used to work in RTE at one stage. First of all I worked in the canteen and that was an interesting experience. It was the first job I ever had. It was after I left school before I went to university.
Then I used to work for Feach [the Irish-language current affairs programme]. It was some time when I was at university lecturing and, as I speak Irish, I was invited to go on the show. Then somebody came and talked to me about working on Feach. I did a couple of programmes, but because I wasn't a union member I had to be very particular about the subject matter.
[Talking about RTE she went on to refer to its public service remit].
VB: Do you think RTE does much in the way of public service?
MR: Well, there is a lack of definition, I suppose, as to what it [public service] actually is and I think it is important that the general public understand that more than they do. Things are changing very quickly and there are all sorts of challenges now around the corner for RTE. I would like to feel that I could contribute on the board. It's only about half a year [on the RTE Authority] at this point. It's very different.
VB: How involving are the directorships you hold?
MR: Pretty involving, and that is one of the reasons why I am delighted [to have joined Arthur Cox] because if you are running a practice on your own, you have to be away for a few days. That's the very time when somebody is going to be seeking to injunct one of your clients.
VB: You were touted as candidate for the Labour Party in the last presidential election. Were you asked to become a candidate?
MR: No. There are a lot of suggestions about that and suggestions that I was interested in the position, which I am not, by the way. But an awful lot of people have said it to me, and it's just that it is sort of a constant . . .
VB: Why wouldn't you be interested?
MR: I'm very happy doing what I am doing and I like being able to do things in life that . . .
VB: It sounds as though you'd be very interested.
MR: No, I am not interested.
VB: What about parliamentary politics?
MR: I am not actually a member of any political party. I'm your floating voter.
VB: Did you ever think of [seeking a Dail seat]?
MR: No, I didn't.
VB: It would make a difference, maybe through politics. You say you want to make a difference?
MR: Certainly, I do know that one can do that. It's not a line I want to take.
VB: If Fine Gael offered you nomination in Dun Laoghaire now in the next election, would you take it?
MR: No.
VB: Why?
MR: Because I feel that as I started out on a certain path, I very much want to take that further. One thing that is very important to me is that the voluntary sector can actually find its own feet itself.
VB: You seem to be arguing that it is possible to have a degree of engagement in public affairs for the voluntary sector but not otherwise. Is that not a fundamental criticism of our political system in that it is not participatory in the way that you see the corporate sector being? MR: Well, it is.
VB: Also, what you say about the voluntary sector is that you seem to suggest that the way to get things done in public life is not through politics but through voluntary organisation. That seems to convey a sense of hopelessness about politics.
MR: I suppose it does.
VB: The cause with which you have been most identified publicly is the hospice movement. How did that come about?
MR: My father's death in 1985 in Our Lady's Hospice led to my starting the Irish Hospice Foundation.
VB: What did it achieve?
MR: More awareness of hospice at grassroots, and as a result more hospice care and hospice groups throughout the country. We started by funding the building of an education and research centre in Harold's Cross; then we helped start what is now St Francis Hospice in Raheny, a beautiful place of which the north side of Dublin can be proud and for which I have a particular affection.
Almost immediately it became a genuine community movement together with the Daughters of Charity, run by its own board under the wonderfully able chairmanship of Judge Mella Carroll. We began the Children's Liaison Nurse service out of Crumlin Hospital and a project in St James' Hospital introducing palliative care in an acute hospital for all terminal patients who needed it, not just those with malignant disease. We helped hospice groups around Ireland. We invented Sunflower Day which has spread throughout these islands. It was a great privilege to participate.
VB: And finally, what has been the happiest period of your life?
MR: The period since the birth of my son 11 years ago. I have three stepdaughters and one son of our own, and the time since his birth has certainly been the happiest.
VB: And the unhappiest?
MR: I suppose my 20s. Personal reasons. I'd rather not talk about them. Everything had gone so well for me at Loreto and at UCD and then suddenly I was in the real world and in many ways unprepared for it . . .
