Chief economist, Friends First, Jim Power, answers thee question this week.

Where did you go to school?

My primary school was Clonea-Power, Co Waterford. I grew up on a farm in Waterford and cycled to school every day. Secondary school was De La Salle College, Waterford (I was a boarder). Third level education in UCD.

What was your best subject?

Science at Inter Cert and Economics at Leaving Cert.

Who was your favourite teacher and why?

Fergus Dunne taught me economics. I took up economics almost by default as I felt I needed some counter balance to my favoured subjects of physics and chemistry. This teacher brought the subject to life and made it as interesting and practical as possible and certainly inspired me to follow it through to my current career. He also had a pretty compassionate approach to students.

Who was your childhood idol?

Didn't have one outside the family and I still don't, but my mother had a hugely positive influence over my whole attitude to life and people. She still does.

Who was your best friend and why?

A chap from Carrick-on-Suir called Michael Connolly. He was a fellow boarder so we played a lot of sport and worked closely together in our academic endeavours. I think we both hated boarding school equally so we provided a support group for each other. He is now working in financial services in Dublin, but unfortunately we have lost contact.

What TV show or film most reminds you of your school days?

I studied Latin for the Leaving Cert along with five others. We were allowed stay up late to watch I, Claudius in order to get a better understanding of Roman history. I don't think it achieved any academic objectives, but the debauchery practised by the Caesar family certainly filled us with envy. Last year on holidays, I read the book by Robert Graves on which the programme was based, and it was as good as I remembered it.

What song most reminds you of your school days?

Status Quo's Rocking All Over the World and the Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers, which helped keep me sane during five difficult years in boarding school.

What food most reminds you of your school days?

Kellogg's cornflakes, which we got for breakfast every day and which still elicit feelings of nausea in me any time I even see the box.

Who did you take to your debs?

A neighbour in rural Waterford whose name I won't mention in case she hasn't told her husband and children.

Would you send your children to the same school you went to?

I would consider it if I lived in Waterford as it was and still is a reasonably good academic institution, but I would not consider boarding school for my two boys.

What was the best thing about your education?

Between 9am and 4pm every day I enjoyed school and enjoyed the interaction with the day pupils, but once I went back to the boarding school everything changed.

What was the worst thing about your education?

Going to a boarding school run by a religious order whose whole ethos was quite challenging for me.