Denis Doherty, President of the Health Management Institute of Ireland (HMI) and head of Denis Doherty & Associates, a healthcare consultancy practice.
Family:Married to Mary with daughters Breege and Denise and grandson James.
What figure in the world of medicine or health do you most admire?
Nye Bevan who, in immediate post-war Britain and in the face of strong opposition from the medical profession, formed the National Health Service, which for decades was admired throughout the world.
What other career might you have chosen?
Sportswriter.
If you could grant three wishes for the health service, what would they be?
Help people realise that our health services have always been delivered by a combination of public, semi-independent and independent providers and focus on making that partnership work in delivering current and future services. Get on with developing comprehensive, integrated and adequately resourced primary care services across the State and empower healthcare managers to contribute to the extent they are capable of.
What is your greatest fear?
A serious illness or accident to a member of my family.
Have you ever been a patient and were you a good one?
Only once as a child and, to be honest, I don't recall the experience.
When or where are you happiest?
Whenever and wherever my grandson James is about.
How do you cope with stress?
Music seldom fails.
What is the trait you most admire in yourself?
Recognition that best results are achieved by playing to the strengths of members of the team.
What is the trait you most dislike in yourself?
Impatience with process.
Do you use alternative or complementary medicine or therapies?
No, but I am not opposed to their use.
Who or what makes you laugh?
Again James, and Billy Connolly.
What is your motto?
One I inherited from my father - it is pointless worrying about things you cannot influence.
What is your favourite TV or radio programme?
Antiques Roadshow and Match of the Day.
What books would you bring to a desert island?
The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing, Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude and the poems of Garcia Lorca.
In conversation with Fiona Tyrrell