How agreeable are you?<\/b><\/p>\n
I think I\u2019m quite agreeable, but if I\u2019m talking to somebody that I\u2019ve had a serious disagreement with, it isn\u2019t unknown for me to say later to Paula [his wife], \u201cNow, wasn\u2019t I very polite?\u201d and she\u2019ll look at me and burst out laughing. I believe you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, so I\u2019ll always try to find a consensus. Whether I succeed, you\u2019d have to ask other people.<\/p>\n
What is your middle name and what do you think of it?<\/b><\/p>\n
It\u2019s Anthony, and I have no thoughts whatsoever about it. I\u2019ve never used it. The Confirmation name thing, though \u2013 the Christian Brother went around the class and asked me what my choice was, and I chose Joseph. \u201cWhy Joseph?\u201d he asked. Because \u201cJoseph is the patron saint of workers\u201d. There was this pause while he looked at me. I looked back at him, and he just shook his head and moved on.<\/p>\n
Where is your favourite place in Ireland?<\/b><\/p>\n
If I had to pick one, then it would be Audley Place in Cork<\/a>, at the top of Patrick\u2019s Hill. It looks out on to a most extraordinary view of the entire north side. I remember there used to be a phone box there, and whenever there was a thunderstorm, I was in the habit of going into the box and watching the son et lumi\u00e8re, the whole north side lighting up with lightning flashes, then going dark and lighting up again.<\/p>\n Describe yourself in three words.<\/b><\/p>\n Impulsive, considered, memorious. Since I was a child, I\u2019ve always been telling myself, \u2018remember this, you need to remember this\u2019.<\/p>\n When did you last get angry?<\/b><\/p>\n Let\u2019s say a child is badly injured at birth, and the State is obviously at fault. The family goes to court for compensation, and the State spends hundreds of thousands fighting them, when the case is clearly open and shut. That makes me angry. It\u2019s an expression of a deeper malaise of State institutions and Government departments treating us as a problem at best, as the enemy at worst. It\u2019s a defensive, some might say offensive, attitude that\u2019s rampant in the public service. To be fair, let me say that you meet stellar individual exceptions to this; the culture of indifferent hostility must upset them as much as it upsets me and many others.<\/p>\n What have you lost that you would like to have back?<\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019ve lost three brothers in the last few years. I lost my parents a long time ago, and I\u2019d like them all back. I\u2019d also like my agility back. I was always very physically agile. I was a tree climber, I\u2019d cycle everywhere, run everywhere. I loved gymnastics. <\/p>\n What is your strongest childhood memory?<\/b><\/p>\n Perhaps not the strongest, but a recurring memory is that I used to travel to matches in what is now called P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh on the crossbar of my dad\u2019s bike. Coming home after a club championship when Na Piarsaigh, of which he was one of the founders, had won with a spectacular goal, I remember leaning back into his arms as we cycled past the Dunlop factory, where he worked, and he saying, \u201cAh, that was the way to win,\u201d and I\u2019m saying, \u201cIt was, Dad, it was.\u201d That moment, that beautiful moment, means so much.<\/p>\n Where do you come from in your family\u2019s birth order, and has this defined you?<\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019m the eldest of a family of 15, so I was the groundbreaker. The first one to stay out late at night, and so on. I was kind of chancellor of the exchequer to my mother\u2019s domestic management. I was the one who always knew when we had to shift from one shop to the next until we cleared the tab, the one who knew how she was worried about buying shoes for the twins and how there wouldn\u2019t be money until next week. That absolutely defined me and gave me an overdeveloped sense of responsibility, but one of the joys of the last number of years has been seeing the extraordinary power, energy and capacity of my brothers and sisters, to the point where I\u2019m now the retired eldest. I go to them for advice, and that\u2019s a great feeling.<\/p>\n What do you expect to happen when you die?<\/b><\/p>\n I lost my religious faith when I was about 13 or 14. I\u2019m an agnostic; I think it would be absurd to call myself an atheist, which seems to me entirely too self-regarding. I think that we are here to witness, to pay attention. It seems unlikely, philosophically and psychologically, that all this gain would simply vanish. I don\u2019t believe in simplistic reincarnation, but my sense of the nature of life makes the idea of consciousness continuing, in whatever form and context, a strong possibility. That said, I\u2019m also prepared for utter extinction. I just hope that on my deathbed, I will be dignified and appreciative of all that life has given me.<\/p>\n [\u00a0I\u2019m adopted. My brother is someone I\u2019ve greatly looked up to and admiredOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n When were you happiest?<\/b><\/p>\n The enduring happiness in my life is spending it with Paula, no question. Through all the vicissitudes of life, the ups and downs of daily living, to know that she\u2019s there in the world, near or far, is my experience of happiness. There are other happinesses, too, of course. It\u2019s always nice when you finish a book, for instance, and you think, \u2018Ah, maybe it\u2019s not too bad.\u2019 Ultimately, I\u2019m at my happiest when everything is harmonious, and something is about to happen. I just love the music of what is.<\/p>\n Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life?<\/b><\/p>\n I imagine that George Clooney<\/a> is already booked up, so I\u2019m going for James Nesbitt<\/a> as we\u2019re not dissimilar in appearance. He\u2019d have to work hard at the Cork accent, though.<\/p>\n What is your biggest career\/personal regret?<\/b><\/p>\n