Michael Fitzgeraldis professor of child psychology at Trinity College Dublin
Family/personal:Married to Frances with three adult sons - Owen, Mark and Robert.
Which living person do you most admire and why?Jason Smyth, Ireland's Paralympic double gold medal winner.
What do you regard as the top three problems facing Ireland's health system?The lack of diagnosis of ADHD and Asperger's syndrome in children and adults, poverty in health and the high rate of suicide in Ireland.
What is your greatest extravagance?A good glass of wine from the Gaillac region in France.
What is your most unhealthy habit?Snacking - I am all too human.
How do you relax?Music and reading.
I also really enjoy theatre and am looking forward to seeing my son Mark perform in A Midsummer's Night Dreamin the National Concert Hall next October.
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?Hillary and Bill Clinton, Seamus Heaney, Fiona Shaw, Vanessa Redgrave and Brendan Kennelly.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?A glass of wine by the pool in France with blue skies above, and Beethoven's 9th Symphony in the background.
What trait do you most value in your friends?Resilience - the ability to get up when one is knocked down.
What talent would you most like to have?I would love to be able to write well like a good novelist.
Do you use alternative/complementary medicines or therapies?On a personal level, never. Professionally, I believe they can be useful for the placebo effect, which is real.
What is your earliest memory?Going to the creamery in Bunratty with my father.
What is your most treasured possession?My library.
What other career might you have chosen?Historian.
What books or films have inspired you?In film it is The Pianistand Diving Bell and The Butterfly.
In conversation with Fiona Tyrrell