Competitiveness is on Brian Patterson's agenda in his day job as well as chairman of the National Competitiveness Council. As chief executive of the Wedgwood division of Waterford Wedgwood he knows the role it plays: out of competitiveness comes all our economic and social well-being, he says. But the man who is said to be one of Dr Tony O'Reilly's favourite businessmen appears to have floated to the top fairly effortlessly.

"It's all about grabbing the opportunities as they come up," he says.

With opportunities has come some hardship. A hard worker, he has helped to steward Crystal through some very traumatic times.

And indeed the hard years do appear to be behind him. As chief executive of Waterford Crystal during the "bad years" he can really appreciate the job he now has - chief executive of Waterford Wedgewood. (The roles were split following the group's restructuring.)

"The years between 1988 and 1995 were very difficult," he says. But Wedgwood is different because it is not in crisis. Nevertheless, it is not all plain sailing. "Managing change is more difficult when you are successful and it can be more frustrating."

But even Wedgwood has its problems. By Mr Patterson's own admission Wedgewood had a tough year last year. But he insists when judged against its competitors it is doing well. "There is a lot of over-capacity and price competition in the market."

Indeed, competition is so hot that rationalisation of the industry is almost inevitable. For Wedgwood this presents opportunities and the group is on the lookout for acquisitions. "We are acquirers rather than acquisitions. The Goulandris family owns 27 per cent of the company and they are not sellers."

One problem Waterford had to cope with "more or less out of the blue" was the economic collapse of Japan where it had a large share of the market.

For Wedgwood, such problems underline that it must continue to strive to be the lowest cost producer, but also to invest behind the brands. The goal, he says, is to turn the company into a premium luxury goods supplier.

On leaving school at 18 he briefly pursued law at Trinity on his father's advice. But a year later he left and took a job with Guinness. He did a degree at night in UCD in subjects which included economics and philosophy, before taking a job in the Irish Management Institute (IMI).

He then began working for Dr Tony O'Reilly at Waterford Crystal. "If someone puts a ball in your hand you should just run with it," he says.

He is also very enthusiastic about the benefits of working for Dr Tony O'Reilly who he says is very charismatic. "You always come away from a meeting feeling re-motivated. He can really paint a vision and get people excited."

He later moved to Stoke on Trent in Britain to head the Wedgwood organisation. He says he underestimated the cultural differences between Ireland and the midlands in Britain. In general, he says, Ireland has more vitality and creativity. But the downside is that there are a lot more rows here.

But the staff at Wedgwood are "lovely, gentle, calm and warm". They have no sides, he says.

"It is a nice place to live and also has the lowest wage rates in the UK."

As chief executive, he believes an important part of his role is to have regular meetings with staff. And as often as he can, although "not often enough" he sits down in the morning and has coffee with 15 people from a cross-section of the company.

Although based in Britain, he is still in Ireland regularly. His wife, Jennifer, chose to stay in Dublin when he moved to Britain, which leads to a rather hectic travel schedule. He takes around 170 flights per year. However, he is no stranger to the commuting concept - he commuted from Dundrum to Waterford during his time at Waterford Crystal.

But as in all else he takes this in his stride. He has now developed a packing system where everything has its place in his case. "I can then immediately see if something is missing."

He manages to combine his busy work schedule with the chairmanship of the National Competitiveness Council, a body which was set up to advise on how to maintain the State's competitiveness. Since taking on the post in 1995, he has seen many key developments take place, including the move to EMU.

The single currency is a defining step for Ireland, he says, entailing greater price transparency, reduced transaction costs and above all a relentless search for lower costs which will intensify competition.

Despite all the focus on preparing for the euro the much bigger issue is the ability to compete in the open European economy, in Britain with a weaker sterling and for globally mobile investment.

"Ever since the advent of monetary union we have seen examples of companies like Fruit of the Loom, Apple, Bourns Electronics and Avon relocating in the pursuit of lower costs."

Of course the weakness of the euro against sterling is not something which he particularly welcomes.

Wedgewood exports more than 60 per cent of its output from Britain and Mr Patterson says he has a "great interest" in a weaker sterling, which would help Wedgewood in many of its top markets.

But he says that this in its turn could pose many difficulties for Irish exporters.

And not so long ago, he points out, competitiveness meant simply wage rates. Now we know it includes labour productivity, use of appropriate technology, teamwork, innovation and design, service, marketing and brand strength as well as relationship marketing where the Irish excell.

The bottom line, he says, is if we cannot compete, we may run but we cannot hide.

For the economy itself there are six critical issues. These include social cohesion, costs, infrastructure, education and skills, science and technology. But perhaps the most crucial issue is partnership. "We should go a considerable distance to achieve it. An unravelling of partnership could bring the whole house of cards crashing down," he says.

But it is also true that there is a price at which a new agreement is not good for competitiveness, particularly if it means a return to two-tier bargaining.

He is also quite dismissive of the telecoms infrastructure here. E-commerce, he says, could have been invented for Ireland. "Here we are a small island on the periphery of Europe - and along comes a new way of trading, which puts location at zero on the scale of importance."

But he warns that an "alarming gap" is now opening up with our competitor countries on the provision of broadband. "A few years ago we would have scored a seven or eight for our telecoms infrastructure today that would be a four or five."

Radical action is also needed on transport, he says. And Mr Patterson has recently been calling for a transport "Tsar" to be appointed, someone who would take responsibility for combating the growing traffic problems. Otherwise, he believes, the economy will suffer and the Republic's competitiveness will be inevitably eroded.

To relax he goes walking in Kerry where the family has had a home for many years. He is also very keen on music and is even considering buying a piano for his Stoke on Trent home. Bonnie Riatt and Bach are particular favourites.

He is also an occasional buyer of art and says he would go a long way to see a Rothko exhibition, although he missed the most recent in Paris.