Roisin Inglefinds out what makes people happy.
GEORGE HUMPHRIES UNEMPLOYED, 50
"I was 15 when I started drinking, and I took to it like a duck would take to water. I eventually reached a point in my life when every time I woke up I found I was in trouble, and I'd be full of remorse. What has brought me great happiness is the fact that 20 years ago I found a different way of life, a life that was always there but I was too blind to see it.
"I am happy right at this moment, because the sun is shining and I am about to go for a swim in the Forty Foot in Sandycove. Swimming makes me feel so invigorated and alive. You can't really describe it. You'd need to go down to the Forty Foot and get in the water yourself to know what I mean.
"What made me happy last week was going down to the bird sanctuary on Rock Road and picking five pounds of blackberries. They are ripe there a month before everywhere else. I went for a swim and then I went home and washed off the blackberries. I sliced a few cooking apples and made a pie mix. I'll have half a dozen tarts made by the end of the week. I'll keep one for myself and give the others away to family and friends. Cooking makes me happy. I was a chef in the merchant navy for 10 years. I am not a fast-food merchant. I love doing it the right way - real wholesome, home-cooked food.
"I like the fact that I have friends wherever I go. I've been all around the world many times, but now I just like to get in the car, fill it up with petrol and go off somewhere in Ireland. I was in Co Sligo the other week and had a great swim in Rosses Point. When I was going back to get my clothes I saw all these dolphins. I've never seen so many. That made me really happy.
"I'm happy when I am diving off rocks, when I am cycling, anything to do with the outdoor life. Every morning I get on my knees to pray, and I intuitively know what to do that day. It makes me very happy that my life is unfolding exactly the way God wants it to."
FIONA O'MALLEY SENATOR, 39
"Putting all my energies into a task, doing my best and then achieving what I set out to do makes me enormously happy, so I was thrilled when I got elected as a TD. Obviously, I was disappointed about losing my seat in the last election, but I've always been a glass-half-full person. Losing made me realise for certain that politics is what I want to do with my life. I want to be able to positively influence the direction this country is going, which for me is the essence of politics.
"From a happiness perspective it was hugely important to me that I be able to continue on that path, so when I was appointed to the Seanad I was delighted. The idea of doing a job that is utterly relevant and worthwhile makes me happy. When I was a TD I got real satisfaction from being able to highlight issues that might not have got an airing otherwise, and I hope to continue to do that.
"Apart from politics, simple things give me great pleasure. There's nothing better than getting a bargain, whether in an antique shop or a department store. When I lived in London I used to go to a car-boot sale every Saturday, and one of my best finds was a lovely gravy boat for 10p. Everyone who comes to my house gets shown my hand-carved refectory table that I got at an auction for €36. It's in the bathroom, because I have no room for it anywhere else. Just looking at it makes me happy.
"I'm happy in the company of people close to me, making dinner for them with produce straight out of the garden. It's also a great joy opening the door to find the sun shining and going for a morning swim. I am never happier than when I'm faced with a challenge, and I am really enthusiastic about the prospect of reviving the Progressive Democrats party over the next few years. That will make me extremely happy."
MANNIX FLYNN WRITER, ARTIST, ACTOR, 50
"I am happiest just strolling around in Dublin city or in the countryside or just in the house, where I have the privacy to allow myself to be. The human doings leave me and I become a human being. This is my self-care. It's like refuelling in mid-air. You go through the day and you get contaminated. Things cling to you like barnacles, and on my strolls around I get to clean all that off me. No matter what I've gone through, whether I've succeeded or failed that day, I give myself permission to let go and just be happy.
"I get joy from other people's wellbeing, too. I was down in Killorglin recently for Puck Fair, and it was great to see all the communities in close proximity doing their thing. The settled - I call them the unsettled - community, Travellers and multicultural communities selling their wares, eating and drinking together without major incident. And Ireland emerging out of that horrendous generation of poverty is fascinatingly joyful to me.
"I know there are still a lot of people trapped in bad situations, but the fact that working people can go to New York and shop makes me happy. What is happening in Northern Ireland brings me happiness. Peace and prosperity, the whole symbolism of Aer Lingus planes emblazoned with the Catholic shamrock going to Belfast and Ian Paisley giggling in newspaper photographs to mark the whole thing is terrific.
"I'm happy about the changing Church and about my own faith. I also like that I can claim personal progress.
"I don't like the word 'survived' - it suggests a victim mentality - but I'm glad I can say I have lived through difficult times and have come so far in my personal life.
"After my 50-year journey and all that I have witnessed, I sometimes laugh at myself. I'm in the scratcher with the curtains drawn by 10pm, sober as a judge, watching cheesy TV with a Marietta biscuit in my mouth and cup of hot milk in my hand. That's the situation; that's happiness to me now. Who'd have thought it?"
DR WALTON EMPEY, FORMER ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN, 72
"The happiest days of my life were, in chronological order, the day I was ordained, the day I was married and the days our four children were born. My family, including our eight grandchildren, have been a constant in terms of happiness, and so has my work. Fifty years of ministry have brought me great joy.
"My spirituality is bound up in my happiness, because I think we all need a centre to our lives, otherwise we are just floating around. Through my work I have met people who do not live for today but for tomorrow or the consumer life, and that seems to me extremely empty.
I can cross my heart and say I don't really need things to make me happy. I don't think I have anything of real commercial value, nor do I look for things to give me pleasure. Having said that, little things do add to my happiness. I love my fishing rods and being out on the river bank or on a boat in a lake. My binoculars bring me happiness, as they allow me to observe wildlife. I think sometimes I am in a trance just seeing the sheer beauty in all the magnificent variety in nature, the wonder of creation all around us. I revel in it.
"I don't live on a plane of complete happiness every hour of every day; of course not. There are times when I am low and I get a sense of hollowness. This can be because of dear friends dying or reading about a situation such as Darfur. At these times I go for a quick walk in the countryside or, without wanting to sound too pious, I say a quick prayer. I might say: 'Oh Lord help me, I am in a mess.' It just reminds me that there is someone greater than I am who is present in me whatever the circumstances. It helps keep me balanced. And, yes, happy."
AISLING McDERMOTT, CO-FOUNDER OF BEAUT.IE
"I have to say, and I know I sound like a boring old childless person, I absolutely love my cats. Sugar, Spice and Cosmo all make me really happy. They are good and sweet and they love unconditionally.
"I was also enormously happy when Daniel Craig became James Bond. Now I sound like a lech as well as a sad cat woman, but getting out my Casino Royale DVD for the millionth time and watching him in those blue shorts really cheers me up.
"I love anything in life that is a celebration, which is why I always keep a bottle of champagne in the fridge. If anyone comes around and they have something to celebrate, however small, the champagne gets popped.
"Lipgloss makes me happy. I love the glitter and sparkle, and it doesn't cost that much money. Although shopping gives me joy, I hate being in debt, which is why I don't have a credit card. It might sound shallow, but I also feel happy when I find a product that helps get rid of wrinkles. I also love sharing the news when I find something that will make other women feel more confident about themselves.
"My husband, Derrick, would have an awful lot to do with my happiness. When you are with someone who knows you so well that you don't have to say anything, it just feels right. The last time I was blissfully happy was with him in Bali last Christmas. It was a magical, dream-like place, completely removed from real life and any worries. We were like different people there. Travelling and getting away anywhere makes me happy.
"Other things that make me happy: that first cup of coffee in the morning, listening to music in my car and the intimacy of family and close friends. I look on the positives generally in life and believe that what goes around comes around. Giving back, whether to people or charity, is emotionally rewarding. And did I mention lipgloss?"