CATHERINE MURPHY, independent TD for Kildare North
What’s your earliest holiday memory?
We lived about five miles from Portmarnock and when I was about five we rented a chalet there for a week. There was a gang of kids. It seems funny living in Dublin and going on holidays in Dublin. It wasn’t exactly the Mediterranean!
Your worst holiday?
I visited my sister in London for a weekend after she had a baby and to do Christmas shopping. On my way back home, the tube station before the one I was getting out at went on fire. I remember watching the fire brigades. I got the overnight train and boat and arrived home to hear that dozens were killed in the King’s Cross disaster. I often wondered about people on the train who got off at the station before me. It would have been so easy to have ended up at that station.
What was your best holiday?
About seven years ago we went travelling in America. We visited New Orleans to listen to music, it was before Hurricane Katrina. We drove through states like Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee until we ended up in Chicago. We were out on the Everglades, did a swamp tour with alligators, stopped at all the music venues on the way and we even saw a chain gang. My husband and I like to be on the move when on holiday so this fitted the bill very well.
If budget or work were no restriction, what would be your dream holiday?
I fancy going to New Zealand, where I have a lot of family. The distance puts me off but I hear it’s a very attractive country with very nice culture and people. I’m not sure if I’d like to spend that long in a plane. I’d stop somewhere to break up the journey.
If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday?
We had great fun on a holiday to watch the Euro championships in Lisbon, Portugal in 2004 with a good bunch of friends, some of whom started as neighbours.
What’s your favourite place in Ireland?
I’ve done lots of research on my family history which has forced me to back to places of my origin. These tend to be my favourite places. I went a long way back as the last of my family arrived in Dublin the 1870s. Some came from Limerick to work for Uncle Arthur. Limerick city gets bad press but I was delighted with the care they have taken with the records in their library. I’ve other connections in Belfast, which is an interesting city.
Your recommended holiday reading?
It tends to be different to what I read otherwise, so I might read a novel. I also like historical books and reading about places I am visiting. I always tend to be a little over the weight restriction with books!
Where will you go to next?
I’ll tour northern Italy for a couple of weeks.
In conversation with GENEVIEVE CARBERY