Dave Shanahan Managing director, Pfizer Healthcare Ireland.
Personal/family: Married to Eilis, with sons Mark and Andrew, and daughter Sarah, all under 11.
What figure from the world of medicine/health do you most admire?
Hard to choose, but I think Denis Burkitt who I heard lecture in college many years ago. Having recently visited Kampala, Uganda, and seen more about his work and his commitment to African medicine, I'd put him first. As I'm from Waterford, the local vote must go to physician and linguist Dr Garry Fitzgerald - de king of d'Unbelievables - das rite!
What other career might you have chosen?
Treeplanter or restaurateur? I'm a lousy cook, but not a bad waiter. I have a fetish for trees and timber.
If you were appointed Minister for Health, what would be your first priority?
Appoint Newt Gingrich chief executive of the Health Services Executive - his book, Saving lives and saving money, is a must-read for anyone working in healthcare. I'd introduce a shared performance appraisal for cross-functional teams, from all sections of administration and medical care, recognising and rewarding those centres and teams contributing the greatest improvement to patient care and clinical outcomes. Finally, I'd try to galvanise the State to prioritise the cost of illness over the costs of treatment, and mandate primary prevention, screening and health improvement strategies to maintain individual good health, instead of trying to fix things when they are broken.
Do you have a phobia/what is your greatest fear?
Phobia: flying (it's a control thing). Fear: death of a loved one.
Have you ever been a patient and were you a good one?
Appendectomy at age six - I screamed the house down when the nurses tried to change my dressings. I was fine when left to myself in dirty bandages, however.
What three books would you bring to a desert island?
Any historical perspective by Martin Gilbert, an anthology of Irish verse - must include Yeats and Kavanagh, and any DIY guide to boat building.
Have you a fail-safe method of dealing with stress?
Cutting grass, growing trees and chopping wood.
What is your favourite TV or radio programme?
The Sopranos. Come to think of it, Tony Soprano could get the Hanly report implemented! On radio, Sam Smyth's Sunday Supplement, especially Denis Duggan's insights from New York.
If you did not live in Ireland, where would you choose to spend the rest of your life?
France. I suspect, under the skin of every Frenchman there's a farmer.
Summarise yourself in 12 words.
Incredibly fortunate, conflicted, passionate, undeserving, opinionated, hardworking (my opinion), literary, patient, arrogant and loud (my wife's opinion).
Do you use alternative medicine/therapies?
Red wine nocte p.r.n., extra virgin olive oil on my bread - I'm a believer in antioxidants.
Who or what makes you laugh?
My three loud children (all comedians) and my wife when she agrees with me. Outside of home, Irish wit and expression - Flann O'Brien being a favourite. I travel quite a bit and delight in returning to join my countrymen in torturing and subverting the English language.