HOME AND AWAY - Grania Willis. Gavin Cummiskeytalks to the indomitable Irishwoman for whom life is a challenge and Hong Kong was just another step on the odyssey

"UPROOTING HAS never cost me a thought. I've done it so many times in my life."

Grania Willis continues to challenge herself close to the bounds of possibility. Unlike normal mortals, she identifies tasks like scaling Mount Everest just 15 months after learning to climb. That sort of thing.

So when the Hong Kong Jockey Club approached her to help run the Equestrian events at the Olympic Games she was out the door like a shot, uprooting again and on a new mission.

Given she worked as this paper's equestrian correspondent until last year, this piece could easily be mistaken for an Irish Timeslove-in but Willis fits neatly the Home and Awaycategory. A recognised sportswoman in her own right as an equestrian rider, she became, on June 5th 2005, the first Irish woman to climb the north face of Everest; that being the most demanding route to the summit, of course.

With Hong Kong as venue, the Olympic equestrian competition became almost a separate entity from the rest of the Games, mainly because of the distance from Beijing. The Hong Kong Jockey Club turned to the Fédération Équestre Internationale for a candidate to manage public relations. They immediately suggested one name.

"It was very flattering," says Grania as she clambers onto the evening subway in downtown Hong Kong. "It's nice to know everything you have worked for has been recognised. There would have been times when the IEF would not particularly like what I've written yet they still recommended me."

There certainly have been such times, including the long-running Cian O'Connor affair that dominated Irish, and for a time world, headlines after the Athens Olympics.

We hardly expected another Irish equestrian positive but four years on from Athens Denis Lynch's horse Lantinus came up positive for capsaicin - a class-A medication banned because of its pain-relieving properties. Three other horses - from Germany, Brazil and Norway - also tested positive for the substance.

Willis was unwilling to comment on a specific case but she revealed this Olympiad had the best testing procedures ever.

"The Racing Lab was the first ever on-site testing facility at the Olympic equestrian events and is one of only four Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) reference labs in the world and the only one in Asia."

This meant samples were still warm when examined. Capsaicin has a very short life span and is normally gone by the time samples reach the laboratory.

The fiasco went down as another bloody nose for Irish equestrianism but a gold star for the fight against doping in sport.

That aside, Hong Kong had many actual positives - in the desired sense of that word - and will be remembered as the best ever equestrian venue for an Olympic Games.

"I find it great to work with this kind of organisation; a company that strives for perfection. I climbed Everest for charity and was surprised to learn the Hong Kong Jockey Club are a non-profit organisation and make huge amounts of money for charity, including outreach programmes, the recent earthquake disaster and the arts. And not just in Hong Kong - mainland China also benefits.

"It is fantastic to work for a company with such ethics. I didn't know that when I initially accepted the 15-month contract."

The tourist board really should be paying her a bonus; after a few minutes' chatting with her you find yourself checking out the prices of flights to Hong Kong.

"It will be a wrench to leave here, it's such a beautiful place, an Asian city but really cosmopolitan. It's known as Asia's world city and hasn't changed since it went back to China. The Chinese pledged to allow Hong Kong to carry on dancing and singing and racing.

"The pace of life is fantastic. I love their work ethic. In Hong Kong they have the can-do spirit. They just say they can do when presented with a challenge. The club lives by that motto too."

Three days before the Olympics started Grania came up with a "Can Do" drink that had the club colours of blue and yellow (for the record it contained Curaçao liqueur, white rum and grapefruit juice and should be approached with extreme caution).

And what about crossing over to a public-relations role after decades in the front lines of journalism?

"I remember in Bridget Jones's Diary the Hugh Grant character saying something about PR being just about doing up a press release but this was a huge challenge."

Working from the "dark side of the tent", as she calls it, helps if you have toiled in the light.

"I know what it is like to have to deal with pushy PR types so I would give stories to individual journalists and take them all racing. That experience is a huge part of Hong Kong. The idea was to link a lot of what was going on with racing."

Just as the madness of the Olympics began to subside the Paralympics rolled into town.

"The Paralympics blew me away. The athletes were just incredible people, doing what most able-bodied people cannot.

"Is this job as hard as climbing Everest? Remember, we're only halfway to the summit.

"We have a massive wrap-up to do and a book to write.

"People said it would never take off but it did. We didn't want it to have a feel of a normal championship event.

"We had our own welcoming ceremony after the Olympic opening ceremony. We didn't want to upstage Beijing so we lit our cauldron after the Beijing flame. It was a great reception and the teams loved it."

The best endorsement possible came from the very highest citadel of Olympic royalty.

"Jacques Rogge (IOC President) came to see the set-up and when he was asked about his hotel accommodation he simply stated, 'One of these stables will do just fine.'"

This chapter in Grania Willis's life ends in December when she is expected home to continue her popular motivational speaking (she hopes to get some of the Paralympics athletes on the circuit as well).

Of course, another challenge is just around the corner. Rehabilitation on an old knee injury means a proposed trip to the North Pole with Irish Olympic rower Gearóid Towey has been postponed until 2010 but it remains the next quest for that total high. Sure, what else would she be doing?

"I've always loved living on the edge. I've always been a risk taker."

With that she boards a boat for a night cruise around Hong Kong harbour.

"Oh thanks - someone just handed me a glass of champagne! You really have to visit this place, Gav. Did you know Hong Kong is 40 percent grassland?"