Liz McManusOccupation: Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Spokeswoman on Health. Former Minister of Housing and Urban Renewal and former chair of the task force on Travellers needs.
Personal & Family: Married to Dr John McManus with four children.
What figure from the world of health / medicine do you most admire?
Dr Noel Browne
What alternative career might you have chosen?
Writer
If you were appointed Minister for Health what would be your first priority?
Extend income eligibility for a medical card. Tackle inequality by shifting emphasis towards health promotion, primary care and by developing a new basis for healthcare, one based on need not ability to pay.
Do you have a phobia / what is your greatest fear?
A fear of being abandoned.
Have you ever been a patient and were you a good one?
Yes and yes.
What three books would you bring to a desert island?
Middlemarch by George Eliot, Ulysses by James Joyce, The Battle Below Giltspur by Cormac MacRaois.
Have you a fail-safe method of dealing with stress?
Walking along Bray seafront and/or in the Wicklow Mountains.
What is your favourite TV or radio programme?
Becker, Scrubs and Morning Ireland
If you did not live in Ireland where would you chose to spend the rest of your life?
France, where I lived as a child.
Summarise yourself in 12 words?
Optimistic, creative, loyal, energetic, practical, an experienced politician and a seasoned home-maker.
Do you use alternative medicine/ therapies?
No.
Who or what makes you laugh?
My grandchildren.
(In interview with Dr Muiris Houston)