ON THE COUCH:Lillian McGovern is chief executive of the Marie Keating Foundation
Family/personal:
Married with two grown-up children.
Which living person do you most admire and why?
On a daily basis, I admire the women overcoming breast cancer who the foundation supports. I am inspired by their courage and fantastic outlook on life.
What do you regard as the top three problems facing Ireland's health system?
The challenge facing Prof Tom Keane in attempting to bring cancer services into a centralised model with the centres of excellence, while ensuring that patients and their families aren't faced with additional burden by having to travel to these centres. In the future, the problem of obesity will be a big issue for the health services. Finally, I see the rising cost of private health insurance posing a big problem for families as they struggle to keep afloat in these recessionary times.
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
I think I'd really enjoy the company of economic commentators such as George Lee and David McWilliams.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Perfect happiness for me would be a world free from the fear of cancer.
What trait do you most value in your friends?
Trust has to be top of the list - without it there's not real friendship.
What is your most unhealthy habit?
Not getting enough exercise and I have big plans to go back to the gym this January.
What is your greatest extravagance?
A regular lie on the beach beside the ocean with a good book.
How do you relax?
I need to learn to do this better but love to spend the weekends catching up with family and friends and reading the papers from cover to cover.
Do you use alternative/ complementary medicines or therapies?
Not as a rule but love to read books about their benefits. I have it on the to-do list for 2009.
What is your earliest memory?
Sitting on a potty watching the world go by.
What talent would you most like to have?
I would love to be able to sing and perform on stage.
What is your most treasured possession?
Without a doubt, my family.
What other career might you have chosen?
I have worked in a variety of areas of the voluntary sector, but there was a time when I had plans to be a teacher.
What books or films have inspired you?
I thoroughly enjoyed Mitch Albom's books, especially the Five People You Meet in Heaven, which was very soul soothing.
In conversation with Fiona Tyrrell