Main causes of stress
I'm in politics since 1979 and for the first 10 years of my public life, I tried to go to everything that I was invited to. Gradually, I realised I wasn't giving sufficient time to any one cause and I had to make decisions. Still, it can be stressful when you meet someone the day after an event and they point out that you weren't there last night but another public representative was.
When you are a minister, it is within your power to make changes but it's stressful because progress is so slow. If, for example, you want to increase the number of prison places, you have to get agreement on the site, agreement with the management team and agreement with the Department of Finance to progress the plan. One and a half years later, you wonder what happened to that great idea you had.
Coping with stress
In politics, you have to realise that things cannot move as fast as you would like.
I always try to have either Saturday or Sunday free. I watch television to unwind. A jolly evening meal with friends is the main way I like to relax. I have a reasonably optimistic personality and have plenty of energy so that helps.
The politics game
Elections are always stressful. In the run-up to an election, you can see the stress building up in the constituency and even within the party. Even if you have a reasonably high public profile, you still have to go out and fight for it. I lost my seat in 1987 and won it back in 1989 and that was an extraordinarily stressful time. It was like a bereavement. But it helped me because I was able to stand back a little and divide my time better.
In conversation with Alison Healy