Ruth Barrington Chief executive officer, Health Research Board.
Family: Married to John Delap. Two sons - Hugh and Eoin.
What figure from the world of health/medicine do you most admire?
Maev-Ann Wren, who has provided a lucid analysis in her book, Unhealthy State, of the forces that have prevented Ireland from achieving the best possible health for all its citizens and which threaten the values on which our health services were built.
What alternative career might you have chosen?
I would have enjoyed working for greater European integration.
If you were appointed Minister for Health, what would be your first priority?
I believe that research, development and information underpin the best outcomes in healthcare provision. So I would appoint a director of R&D for health, as promised in the Government's policy statement on health research, Making Knowledge Work for Health. I would give the new Health Services Executive a statutory mandate to advance R&D for health and I would invest more in R&D and information systems to ensure that Ireland had the best healthcare system to deliver quality services and sustain the growth of a knowledge-based society and economy.
Do you have a phobia/what is your greatest fear?
That the health reform programme could undermine some of the best features of our health services.
Have you ever been a patient and were you a good one?
I spent six months in a sanatorium recovering from TB. I followed all instructions to ensure I was discharged as soon as possible!
What three books would you bring to a desert island?
Arthur Koestler's The Sleepwalkers, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and James Joyce's Ulysses - so I can finish it!
Have you a fail-safe method of dealing with stress?
Sailing is my antidote to work-related stress. Once you are on a boat, you have no time to think of anything but the weather, the sea and the sails.
What is your favourite TV or radio programme?
Morning Ireland and most programmes on Lyric, especially Tim Thurston's Gloria.
If you did not live in Ireland, where would you choose to spend the rest of your life?
On a boat, preferably in the Mediterranean.
Summarise yourself in 12 words?
Passionate about improving health through research and information. Clear communicator, analytical, innovative.
Do you use alternative medicine/therapies?
No.
Who or what makes you laugh?
The funniest play I have ever seen must be John Breen's Alone it Stands. All Irish life is there.