ON THE COUCH:Eamonn Farrell is CEO of the Post Polio Support Group
Family/personal:Married to Elizabeth with two adult children, Louise and Tom, and four grandchildren.
Which living person do you most admire and why?I have never met Bono and Ali Hewson, but I admire their compassion for the less fortunate and the way they turn that compassion into positive action to try and resolve very difficult and enormously challenging problems.
What do you regard as the top three problems facing Ireland's health system?The health service should be a source of comfort for people. They should feel it is there to give the right kind of help when it is needed at a time when a person is very vulnerable and each should feel he or she will not pick up serious infections during their treatment. The greatest problem to my mind, in spite of many personal good news stories, is the loss of confidence that the system can deliver this level of care.
What is your greatest extravagance?I love going on holidays, at home and abroad, to meet new people, see new and some very old things, and bring my historical reading to life.
What is your most unhealthy habit?I love high-end, cholesterol-rich, cream-based ice cream.
How do you relax?Talking absolute rubbish, and a little serious stuff, with friends over a pint.
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?My entire family, extended to fill whatever space is available.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?If a good fairy came along and cleared up after the dream dinner party.
What trait do you most value in your friends?Good conversation and a sense of humour.
What talent would you most like to have?I would love to be able to sing a good tenor aria.
Do you use alternative/ complementary medicines or therapies?I am glad to say that I don't need any.
What is your earliest memory?My mother buying me a windmill.
What is your most treasured possession?Family memorabilia and genealogical records.
What other career might you have chosen?I love working with my hands. I love timber, the smell of it, the way it can be worked into different shapes and the many end uses of it - I might have made a good carpenter.
What books or films have inspired you?I often buy books of poetry from Pat Ingoldsby. He can touch a chord when describing the very ordinary, and he can find such humour where others would find only pathos.
In conversation with Fiona Tyrrell