ON THE COUCH:Prof Samuel McConkey is head of the Department of International Health and Tropical Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and is consultant in tropical medicine, infectious disease and general medicine.
Family/personal:Married with one son, aged nine.
Which living person do you most admire and why?Don Lichti – a persistent, gentle and effective healthcare manager at BJC Healthcare, a non-profit healthcare organisation which runs a number of hospitals in the St Louis region. He listens to all voices patiently, embraces change and technology prudently, and commands respect through openness, transparency and fairness.
What do you regard as the top three problems facing Ireland's health system?Firstly, deciding who should pay for bed, board and lodgings for the dependent and elderly in Ireland.
Secondly, matching the numbers and skills of public-service staff to current needs of people in Ireland.
Finally, we should let people know the areas of excellence in the health service. In Ireland, the rates of mothers dying, of children dying and the life expectancy are among the best in the world, and way ahead of those in the US.
What is your greatest extravagance?I am quite frugal – perhaps a legacy of growing up in the 1960s on a family farm in Monaghan – but my family will tell you that I have a large collection of Hermès animal-motif silk neckties.
What is your most unhealthy habit?I travel a lot, sometimes for work but also for pleasure.
How do you relax?I say a few prayers to rejuvenate myself. I also like to read and listen to music, as well as watching my son play soccer and mini-rugby matches at the weekends.
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin of the University of Limerick, Roddy Doyle and my family.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?Peace, not as the absence of war, but as creatively being alive together.
What trait do you most value in your friends?Loyalty and compassion.
What talent would you most like to have?Peacefulness.
Do you use alternative/ complementary medicines or therapies?I never have yet, though I am still openly waiting for evidence that they would do me any good.
What is your most treasured possession?First and foremost, my family. Also my diaries and writings, as well as photographs from the past.
What other career might you have chosen?I nearly followed the well-worn path of my male ancestors on both sides to be a farmer. Instead, I chose tropical medicine.
What books or films have inspired you?The psalms and the gospels I have read more than any others, and revisit frequently.