Alice Leahy, co-founder and director of Trust, a social and health service for people who are homeless.
Personal & family: My family in Tipperary, my mother, brothers and sisters. In Dublin; my husband Charles and our dog,Viduka.
What figure from the world of health/medicine do you most admire?
Prof James McCormick, chairman of Trust, a former GP and former Head of Department of Community Health, TCD - a truly inspiring man. And also Dr Noel Browne.
What alternative career might you have chosen?
Veterinary/Law
If you were appointed Minister for Health what would be your first priority?
I would apply a moratorium on reports, expert groups and conferences about future grand plans. I would also ensure that all senior management personnel would have to spend a certain amount of time each month helping out in A&E and other front-line caring areas to allow them to gain something they clearly lack - real understanding about what is going on there and the pain being caused not only to patients and their families but to the nurses and doctors as well by the deplorable conditions they allowed to develop there.
Do you have a phobia/what is your greatest fear?
Getting caught in crossfire while talking to somebody outside a bank.
Have you ever been a patient and were you a good one?
Yes, and I'm sure I was!
What three books would you bring to a desert island?
Any volume of Lifelines, a collection of poems chosen by well known individuals; The Diary of Jane Somers by Doris Lessing and The Death of Humane Medicine by Peter Skrabanek.
Have you a fail-safe method of dealing with stress?
Walking my dog, Viduka, and listening to Lyric FM in the park or by the Dodder [river].
What is your favourite TV or radio programme?
The Bill and all current affairs programmes on radio.
If you did not live in Ireland where would you chose to spend the rest of your life?
Portugal or Finland.
Summarise yourself in 12 words?
A well-rounded, mature woman who feels passionate about things.
Do you use alternative medicine/therapies?
Meditation and yoga.
Who or what makes you laugh?
The ridiculous. I find a lot of humour in life - the little things that happen every day.