1. How do you usually start your day when nothing is pressing?
If nothing urgent is clamouring for attention (usually not much does at 6am!), I like to start with ten minutes of learning Spanish, followed by yoga and a bit of kettlebell training if I’ve gotten out of bed early enough. It is a good way to get the mind switched on and the body moving before the day takes off.
2. Tea or coffee – and what’s your ideal cup?
Coffee, every time. My cup of choice is an Italian espresso from Nespresso — Ispirazione Italiana Arpeggio. Strong and reliable, which are qualities I have always admired in both people and coffee.
3. What’s a small routine or habit you quietly enjoy?
Bringing my wife a coffee in bed each morning, then slipping in beside her for a few quiet minutes to talk about the day ahead, the news and whatever else is on our minds. It is often the only proper conversation we get until evening, so we always make time for it.
4. What song, book, or programme do you always return to?
I’ve always loved 18th-century classic literature, particularly Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. There’s something enduring in both — human nature never really goes out of fashion. I like to listen to Matt Cooper on Today FM on my way home and classic rock if I need to escape.
5. What’s something people often get wrong about you?
Because I spent many years in the Army, people sometimes assume I am authoritarian by nature. In truth, the opposite is closer to the mark. My experience taught me the value of trust, judgment and working with people rather than over them.
6. What’s a moment in your life that changed how you see the world?
Serving with the United Nations in Lebanon changed my perspective for good. Seeing acts of war up close leaves a mark. It made me deeply grateful for the life I have, and for the peace we enjoy in Ireland, which we can too easily take for granted.
7. What values matter most to you when making difficult decisions?
Integrity and moral courage matter when making decisions that affect others. Difficult decisions are seldom made easier by putting them off, and I believe you have to be prepared to do the right thing even when it is not the easiest or most popular course.
8. What has leadership taught you about yourself?
A leader, by definition, has to lead someone. My own style is collaborative, and I place a great deal of trust in colleagues. When people are respected and given responsibility, they will very often rise to it. At Carrigtwohill Family Resource Centre, that shared effort is focused on providing the best possible service to our clients.
9. What keeps you grounded when things feel demanding or uncertain?
My wife, Michelle, keeps me grounded. We have been married for more than forty years, and she has always been a steadying influence. As a psychotherapist, she often sees things from an entirely different angle, and more than once she has shifted my thinking with just a few well-chosen words.
10. What always helps you switch off and reset?
Motorcycling does that for me. When you are on a bike, your mind has to be fully where you are; there is no room for anything else. I also enjoy ten or fifteen minutes of reading in bed at night, though sometimes the book wins, as my bent specs will testify to!
11. What’s a simple pleasure that never fails to lift your mood?
The smell of the first coffee of the morning, listening to my granddaughter play the piano, or getting down on the floor with my two grandsons. Hot Wheels, as it turns out, are good fun at any age!
12. If you had a completely free weekend, how would you spend it?
On a motorbike, ideally. A bit of off-road riding where possible, fresh air and a night camping out would make for a very fine weekend indeed.
13. What’s something you’re genuinely looking forward to this year?
I am genuinely looking forward to progressing the development of the premises we bought last year so that we can better meet demand across community childcare, family support and counselling. It is an important step for the future of the Centre.
14. What’s a joke, saying, or story that never fails to make you smile?
My humour can lean a bit dark, so I still have a soft spot for this one: “I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and terrified like the passengers in his car.” Not one for every audience, admittedly, but it still gives me a giggle.
