It may seem an imponderable, perhaps unanswerable, question, but 11 people from different walks of life weren't short of opinions when they were sought by ALANA GALLAGHER

HAPPINESS, THE MOST hotly pursued state of being, perhaps even the aim of life itself, is as elusive as an Irish summer. But how and where is to be found? As a nation, in Leaving Cert speak, we score a B2 average of 7.5 on a scale of one to 10 on the World’s Database of Happiness. As individuals, how do we regard this “subjective appreciation of life”?

Oliver Peyton

Restaurateur

“Happiness is about personal freedom. The fact that I work for myself contributes greatly to my level of happiness.

“Happiness is conviviality. Eating together with friends and family plays a colossal part in our happiness.

“Hospitality, my job, is to make people happy. In the hospitality sector, now more than ever it’s important to make people happy. I’m a foodie. Comfort food adds to my general sense of happiness. White truffle risotto makes me happy. So do strawberries and organic cream.”

Alain de Botton

Philosopher

“I agree with Freud’s vision that happiness derives from two sources: love and work. In love, what I need is to admire someone for their strengths and feel sympathy for their frailties, and vice-versa.

“From work, I need a feeling that I am able to make a difference to other people’s lives.

“A happier society would be one resigned to the stubborn presence of sorrow – and would hence be able to offer collective consolation rather than constantly dangle promises of individual perfection.”

Tom Dunne

Radio presenter

“Happiness is savouring that moment. These days that means the little things in life: being able to stay in bed past 7am or drinking a cup of tea in peace. Having two kids is the most gorgeous thing in the world. The arrival of Eva and Skye has put me very much in the moment. I’m loving the whole experience. It’s one of those times in life when I’m enjoying it day by day. I’m aware of how special it all is. I want it to last as long as possible.”

Prof Ruut Veenhoven

Professor of happiness studies

“In my 40 years researching the subject , the definition of happiness hasn’t changed. It’s a subjective appreciation of life. I don’t know what makes me happy. What I am sure is that I like the life I live. I like working, my grandchildren and riding a bike. On a scale of one to 10, I’d give my life about a nine.

“This recession has made people more anxious about their income, but it hasn’t affected their general life satisfaction much, at least as measured on the World Database of Happiness, of which I am director.”

Muriel Bolger

Travel journalist

“Happiness is appreciating the everyday. You only learn to be happy by looking at life, through observation and maturity. I tend to always have a good outlook on life. I’m an optimist by nature. When my youngest son broke his back, paralysing him from the waist down, my first reaction was that this was the worst thing that could happen. By the middle of the night I had changed my view to ‘he’s only paralysed, his brain is perfect, he’s still the same person’.”

Eric Weiner

Author, The Geography of Bliss

“In the past, happiness meant living a good and rigorous life. Now it’s more closely related to hedonism. The meaning has evolved, or devolved, over the last 4,000 years.

“In the US, people expect to be happy. It is enshrined in our constitution. That creates a lot of pressure and can be counter-productive.

“Relationships are much more important to happiness than we think.

“Expectation can get in the way of happiness. Happiness needs to be approached sideways, like, of all things, a crab.”

Noel Pearson

Film and theatre producer

“Happiness is such a nebulous and tenuous thing. There’s no magic formula that if you do x, y and z you’ll be happy. It’s such an individualistic thing. Some think that money will make them happy, and sometimes it does. But sometimes it doesn’t. If I achieve a high quality in my work, that makes me happy.

“I love good cinema, but most of all good theatre makes me happy. There is nothing more satisfying than actors getting up there and delivering a show seven times a week.”

Peter Sheridan

Theatre director

“As a kid in short trousers, the smell of freshly cut grass made me feel like the world was a beautiful place.

“In my adult life, sobriety is the thing that has brought me the most sustained happiness. I thought living without drink and drugs would be impossible. Alcohol didn’t bring me happiness; clarity and simplicity did.

“The bread and butter of living and life seems a much more beautiful thing in sobriety than it ever did in addiction.”

Dorothy Cross

Artist

“Happiness is the freedom of diving through the invisible line where crystal-clear aquamarine water meets the air. It is an almost imperceptible transition into a different realm where one is observed by the passing dogfish or conger eel.

“The dive is similar to the transition that occurs when art emerges through an invisible line and passes into recognition and the visible. Both are exquisite and sudden and imperceptible.”

Ian Robertson

Professor of psychology, TCD

“Happiness is a bit of a chimera. It’s a state of mind, a byproduct of doing other things. Happiness is programmed into our genes. People who are well-integrated into groups of people, family or friends tend to be happier.

“Life satisfaction tends to be linked to the average wealth of a country, while moment-to-moment happiness is less affected by wealth and more by the day-to-day gritty being of our lives.

“One contribution to being less happy is being stressed.”

David Heffernan

Broadcaster and maker of 4FM radio series, Happiness

“Happiness is a byproduct of the way we live our lives. It comes along occasionally and fleetingly. It is the satisfaction of certain key needs, such as food and shelter, and of deeper ones, such as feeling understood and having work that is challenging, meaningful and earns you some money. Being with loved ones induces a sense of real happiness.

“Happiness is Sideways the film, which is about finding happiness by taking a step outside your life, like the character in the film. As soon as he stopped trying so hard to be a great novelist, he found something else.”

See worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl to see how Ireland compares with other countries