One might think that, swishing along the streets of downtown Tehran during the Iran-Iraq war, Caroline Gill would have cut quite a startling figure. Shoulder-length blonde hair, bubbly personality, big open smile, the kind of things the Islamic police would really go for.
In fact the future insurance ombudswoman was working for the Red Cross. Her job involved dealing with the Iranian authorities, ensuring that food, medicine and tents got to stricken areas, and she did whatever was necessary to maximise her effectiveness. That meant making herself look more like everyone else, covering her head and wearing long dresses.
So, someone independent, flexible and focused on helping the powerless. Sounds like an ideal candidate for insurance ombudsman. But Caroline Gill may be stepping into a more treacherous spot than wartime Tehran.
The position is a non-statutory one, created by insurance companies six years ago in response to a chorus of consumer criticism of the industry. It current holder, Paulyn Marrinan Quinn, has said she was bullied into resigning by the industry, and that her reports were censored. Due to make way for Ms Gill at the end of August, she has asked to be allowed to stay on to put the office on a stronger footing.
The office had been deliberately starved of cash, Ms Marrinan Quinn said, while the Council of the Insurance Ombudsman, initially created as a buffer between the industry and the ombudsman, appointed an administrator without her agreement.
"If I were to depart, as planned, in August, the independence of the office would be grievously damaged and the position of an incoming successor greatly weakened. The least I can do is my utmost to ensure that what I pass on is not a poisoned chalice but a workable and viable scheme," Ms Marrinan Quinn said last week.
She believes there are conflicting views of the purpose of the insurance ombudsman. Some within the industry see the office as little more than a marketing tool, while consumers want it to be a powerful watchdog, clamping down on sharp practice.
Caroline Gill, the chief executive of the Consumers' Association since 1991, seems likely to take the latter view, married to a flexible approach to the job.
Born and brought up in Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ms Gill was educated in Miss Meredith's School on Pembroke Road. After a BA in languages at University College Dublin she studied personnel management at Rathmines College of Commerce, then took an MSc at Trinity College Dublin.
She has also received graduate membership of the Marketing Institute of Ireland, and earned a diploma in legal studies at the King's Inns.
She worked for Aer Lingus and British Airways, as an air hostess and in public relations, and saw the world.
"It was a fascinating time," she says. "And when I went to Iran later, because I had been to all these places, I was used to having to go along with the rules. It didn't bother me in the slightest. I always like to see the similarity in people, not the differences, and I would find that that is the way to go," she says.
She moved to an oil company, Phillips Oil, then worked for the Red Cross, based in Dublin.
While she gives most of the credit for the Consumers' Association's success in forcing a consumer agenda to her chairman and colleagues, as chief executive for the last seven years she was central to the process.
She led the charge on the food sector in the wake of the BSE scare, and believes that campaigning by the Consumers' Association helped to secure the establishment of the Food Safety Authority. She welcomed that move, then pressed on for more improvements, pointing out that there is still no requirement for people to be trained in the preparation of food.
In what will alarm some insurance industry insiders, she can also cast a jaundiced eye upon the financial services sector. The Consumers' Association took a strong line against the recent financial controversies at National Irish Bank, calling for a new, tougher, more consumer-focused Central Bank.
"Consumer representation is needed on the board of the Central Bank because the scandals may soon be forgotten and we will not have made any of the required changes," she said in one recent interview.
She also added that practices such as removing money from customers' accounts without their permission were part of a wider ethos based on three words: "Profit, profit, profit."
In the same article, published before she had been appointed to the new job, she gave an insight into how she will run the Office of the Insurance Ombudsman. The most important skill in running an organisation, she says, is diplomacy.
"Diplomacy and tact are essential, but so is an ability to harness the energy and skills of the association's voluntary people, so that you have a team effort."
Ms Gill describes herself as a homebird, and lists her main leisure activity as being out of doors; she likes tennis, walking and swimming. For holidays, she usually stays in Ireland. Her parents are from Mayo and Donegal, and she enjoys coastal counties best.
She has a daughter, Julie, who is doing her Leaving Certificate. She says having a child without being married was "a difficult situation to be in", but that her daughter has been a driving force in her life. "Everything I have done has been tied up with her. She's the person who made me what I am," she says.
Factfile
Name: Caroline Gill.
Age: Over 21.
Occupation: chief executive of the Consumers' Association.
Why in the news: Appointed insurance ombudswoman this week.