Factfile

Education:

St Patrick's College, Drumcondra: diploma in education (1964). London University: BSc in psychology (1972). London School of Economics: MSc (1974), PhD (1979)

Family:

married to Nancy, a nurse for the adult handicapped. Children: Kathryn, a primary teacher, Rachel in financial services and Marc, a business student.

Interests:

hill walking

Holidays:

visiting cities, especially Lisbon, Vienna and Kiev

We have to acknowledge that young people are more able to make up their minds about what they want and that preaching to them is inappropriate