Anne Geraghty is on the couch this week
Occupation: Chairwoman of the Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists and Speech and Language Therapy Manager.
Personal/Family: Married to Niall, children Cliodhna and Darragh (and Oscar the cat).
What figure from the world of health/medicine do you most admire?
Sinéad O Nuallain, consultant paediatrician - for vision years ahead of her time, her passion and commitment, and never forgetting what it is really all about.
What alternative career might you have chosen?
When I was small I wanted to sell washing machines.
If you were appointed Minister for Health, what would be your first priority?
I'd stop paying external management consultants to give me information I already have, and I'd really listen to the people trying to deliver the service on the ground because they're the ones who really know.
Do you have a phobia/what is your greatest fear?
I hate mice and rats, and I'm scared of water - my greatest fear is getting a skid on ice and ending up in water.
Have you ever been a patient and were you a good one?
I've been in hospital a few times and I was a model patient.
What three books would you bring to a desert island?
Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy), The Barrytown Trilogy (Roddy Doyle) and Testament of Youth (Vera Britten).
Have you a fail-safe method of dealing with stress?
Lyric FM in the car, at home a glass of red wine, share a pizza with Niall, feet up and something good on the telly.
What is your favourite TV or radio programme?
The West Wing and NYPD.
If you did not live in Ireland, where would you choose to spend the rest of your life?
Definitely Paris.
Summarise yourself in 12 words?
Optimistic, opinionated, committed, talkative, never use one word if 10 will do.
Do you use alternative medicine/therapies?
Thankfully I haven't had need for a lot of medicine so far. However, at the moment I have a banjaxed foot so I'd be open to any offers short of amputation.
Who or what makes you laugh?
Rumpole of the Bailey, Fr Dougal Maguire, our kids at their most irreverent, and my two little nephews, Leo and Ben, who came to us from Vietnam.
(Interview by Dr Muiris Houston)