Bernadette McGreevy.
What's your earliest holiday memory?
I was about five, and Pauline, my sister, was even younger. We went to Newcastle in Co Down. It seemed a wonderfully strange place to us. It was a different part of the country, different to what we were used to; the people's accents were different. My memory is that they couldn't have been nicer. They brought us out in a little boat.
What was your worst holiday?
I think it was when I was about 18. We decided to be brave and go down the country, to Ballybunion, in Co Kerry, and stay in a caravan. It rained, but we made the best of it, and we went into the hops in the evening. We had a bit of gas, but the rain pelted down on this corrugated roof. The Father Tedepisode with Graham Norton doing Riverdanceevoked memories of it for me.
Your best holiday?
It was in Cyprus in a particularly superb hotel with its own private part of the beach. It was very hot, and you could flop into this lovely hotel after the day. It was in the 1990s. The people were lovely, and walking into this divine hotel, with its own pool, was like walking into an oasis. On that holiday we visited the Roman sites at Ayia Napa.
If budget or work were no restriction, what would be your dream holiday?
I'd love to tour the gardens of France and Italy. I've read about them, and I do like flowers. I did have the pleasure of visiting gardens in Shanghai on a trip to China in 1985, and the gardens were just beautiful. We saw an open-air opera in one of them. Gardening, which I love, takes you out of yourself.
If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?
I'd have no hesitation in bringing George Clooney. Not only because he's George Clooney but because he's a very interesting man. I admire him. Nobody since Clark Gable has had as big an impact.
Your favourite place in Ireland?
It's Kells Bay in south Co Kerry. I have a tiny little tigín, and the people are lovely. We look over at Dingle. We are on the Iveragh Peninsula. Once you turn a corner you look over to the Blasket. I got to know it through my late husband's family. I've been going there since I was a girl, since before we were married.
What book would you recommend to bring on holiday?
I love biographies. The one I'm reading at the moment is about Jussi Björling, a Swedish tenor. He has the greatest voice God has ever given to any human being.
Where to next?
After this week's festival I shall definitely return with my sisters, Pauline and Marie, to Kells Bay.
In conversation with Catherine Foley
• Bernadette Greevy is the founder and artistic director of Anna Livia Dublin International Opera Festival (www.dublinopera.com), which ends tomorrow