Latest news with #agreeable
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
‘Over the years, I've lost a little sense of my calmness. I wish I were a little bit more patient or cool-headed'
How agreeable are you? I'm someone who always tends to go with the flow, so I'd describe myself as agreeable. Maybe other people wouldn't. They'd perhaps see me as a bit grumpy, but part of it is that as you get older, you tend to know what you want and don't want, and so you're more vocal about it. What's your middle name and what do you think of it? My middle name is John, named after my dad. It's not too complicated a name that you need to talk about or explain where it comes from. Other than seeing it on my passport now and again, it's very quickly forgotten about. Where is your favourite place in Ireland? I'm from Adare in Co Limerick , so that always holds a special place in my heart. I don't get to go down there too often nowadays, but when I do, I remember how lucky I was to have grown up there. It's a beautiful village. Another place is Valentia Island, where you feel like you're on the edge of the world. Describe yourself in three words. Calm, generous, reserved. READ MORE When did you last get angry? I don't tend to get angry all that often. In my personal life, you could say I get angry about sports when there's a bad result for your team, but it's actually more disappointment, and that fades. What have you lost that you would like to have back? My initial reaction is to say, what have I lost, literally, that I would want to get back. But then I think about the broader side of it, like losing energy or losing patience. I feel that over the years, I've lost a little sense of my calmness, and I wish I were a little bit more patient or cool-headed [like] I was maybe even five or 10 years ago. What's your strongest childhood memory? I have a very strong visual image of me being in Montessori class; I was one of the Wise Men for a Nativity play. Other strong memories are when we would go on family holidays. My mother is from Wales, so we would go there quite a lot. I remember the excitement of waking up at four o'clock in the morning, packing up the car. It used to take about four-and-a-half hours driving through every town and village on the way to get to the ferry, but they're memories I always remember. Where do you come in your family's birth order, and has this defined you? I'm the youngest of four. Growing up, I learned quickly what to do and what not to do. I definitely observed situations, and calmly measured the approaches, I suppose, and then decided how to participate. That has definitely defined me, but in a positive way, I would say. What do you expect to happen when you die? There was one quote I stumbled across a couple of years ago. I'm not sure who it was, but the quote was that what happens when they die is that the ones who love us will miss us. There's no expectation from me as to what happens, but I hope that whoever loves me will miss me. I think that's a sign of a life lived well. When were you happiest? In general terms, I'm very happy now. I have a dream job and a healthy family. The days of unbounded joy include my wedding and the birth of my three kids. Another happiest day was when Limerick won the All-Ireland in 2018. Like marriage and kids, it was a release of emotion. Like, Jesus, this is something special. [ Limerick 3-16 Galway 2-18: Five match defining moments Opens in new window ] Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life? I'd always look at Dominic West, from The Wire – he had a fairly good Baltimore accent in that. He lives in Glin in Co Limerick, so he might get the accent right. [ Dominic West on his natural swimming pool: 'When I'm in the mood I do a spot of underwater gardening' Opens in new window ] What's your biggest career/personal regret? I'm lucky not to have too many regrets. Business-wise and career-wise, I seem to have struck gold every time I've moved to a different job or company. One of the things that sticks with me, however, is that I never did an executive MBA. I meant to do it in my mid-to-late 20s, when I had the time. Now I don't have the time, but I will get to it some day. Have you any psychological quirks? I can't sit in a room and relax or work if it's messy. It could be chaos outside of the office, but in that particular room, if I have to work or sit and watch something or just chill out, I have to do a quick tidy up. The distraction of having something messy doesn't sit right with me. In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea
Irish Times
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Photographer Ruth Medjber: ‘I spent too much of my early career helping idiot men with theirs'
How agreeable are you? I would say, professionally, I'm very agreeable because when you're a freelancer and you have so many clients on the go at once, I just do what the clients want me to do. That said, in other aspects of my life, my friends and partner would probably say I'm quite determined and stubborn. What is your middle name and what do you think of it? I was named after my godmother, who is my mom's cousin, but they fell out when I was about eight years of age ... I don't use my middle name at all. I even took it off my passport. Where is your favourite place in Ireland? Dollymount Beach. You can walk for five kilometres and not meet anyone, especially on a bit of a horrible day. And then you see the Poolbeg chimneys, the sight of which is a real moment of personal focus every time I'm there. I'm like, there's the lads. I know I'm home and that I can finally relax and breathe. Describe yourself in three words. Persistent. Compassionate. Tired. READ MORE When did you last get angry? In general, I'm not an angry person. I'm angry at injustice more than anything else, and I think we're all in a constant state of anger and disbelief that there isn't enough being done about the genocide that's happening in Gaza. [ Ruth Medjber: 'I don't need a therapist, because I have a camera' Opens in new window ] What have you lost that you would like to have back? I'm quite lucky in that I've never lost an awful lot in my life. I consider the greatest loss to be death, and when my dog died, that was the greatest loss for me. That and my campervan burning down a couple of months ago because of an electrical fault in the dashboard. What's your strongest childhood memory? My dad worked in a camera store and would give me these little plastic 35mm point-and-shoot cameras as Christmas present stocking fillers. I had a pink one when I was about three years of age, and it was my first form of expression, before I could even articulate through language. I still remember taking photographs. I did a series on toilet bowls, then light switches, shoes and other inanimate objects. Randomly enough, I was on eBay a couple of months ago and I found the same type of camera for sale. I have it here with me. I'm going to start trying it out to see if I can reclaim some of that three-year-old energy! Where do you come in your family's birth order, and has this defined you? I've one older brother, who is two years older than me. It's quite nice growing up when there's just the two of you. Our parents gave us a lot of freedom, respect and independence. Because of their trust, I became a very independent child and adult from quite a young age. That helped me build courage for myself as I tried new things and lived in new countries. What do you expect to happen when you die? Realistically, feck-all. If I were thinking fantastically, it'd be great if your spirit lived on, but what if you were trapped on Earth without a body? Or without a dog, a camper van, a beach? I mean, could you imagine never smelling sea air again? [ In pictures: life backstage with Hozier, Arcade Fire, Elton John and more by some of Ireland's top music photographers Opens in new window ] When were you happiest? One of the most recent happiest times took place in 2023. The sun was out, I was with my partner, and I was watching Yusef/Cat Stevens on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. He sang I Love My Dog, which is one of my favourite tunes, and in that moment, I don't think I could have been happier. I was bawling my eyes out. I looked over at my partner. He was just laughing at me, and I was, like, absolutely delighted. Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life? That's a hard one. You don't want to say some amazingly gorgeous celebrity because people will go, what, really?! I'll probably do a Kneecap and see if I can fulfil the role myself. What's your biggest career/personal regret? I spent too much of my early career helping idiot men with theirs. My life would have been different if I had been a little bit more selfish and if I had had better taste in human beings than I did when I was in my 20s. Have you any psychological quirks? If someone on the TV claps their hands, I do the same. If I hear a noise, I repeat it. When I'm home, all the presses and doors have to be closed before I can settle down. In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea
Irish Times
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Prof Ian Robertson: ‘My father was more like a brother, and my brother was more like a father'
How agreeable are you? I'm probably excessively agreeable, but I'm also capable of being grumpy and bad tempered. If I'm involved in some project or some thinking, I find it hard to disengage from it. If I have to disengage from it, then my mind can be elsewhere, and it's when my mind is elsewhere that I could be grumpy. What is your middle name and what do you think of it? My middle name is Hamilton, and that's my mother's maiden name. I was brought up in Scotland, and it's a common tradition, a nice tradition, to take your mother's maiden name as your middle name. I like it. It reminds me of my mother, of course – Annie Hamilton, someone who was very, very intelligent, but who had to leave school at 14. All her life, she longed to be a nurse but never had formal training. To her great satisfaction, much later in her life, she ended up working as an auxiliary nurse and a care assistant. She adored that. Where is your favourite place in Ireland? My favourite place in Ireland has to be where I live, which is Dalkey. We've been here for 26 years, and I have to pinch myself every single day that I live somewhere so amazing, so beautiful, a proper community. And it is a mixed community as well. It's not all rich people. Describe yourself in three words. Driven. Dalkey. Likes-to-be-liked. READ MORE When did you last get angry? The thing that makes me most angry these days is what's happening in Gaza and Ukraine. I get angry with brutal men doing brutal things in the world. And that's real anger, not irritation, a profound anger at the ruthlessness of powerful men who lose track of all humanity. [ At the heart of Netanyahu's delusion is the belief that his interests are the same as Israel's Opens in new window ] What have you lost that you would like to have back? It sounds so pathetic in a way, and it's not smug, but the older I've got, I've been fortunate enough to remember only the gains and not the losses. There are things I don't do now that I could before. In my 60s, I ran a few half marathons, but then I had to get a new hip. I can still run, but not fast. That's not a loss, though – maybe it's relief. What is your strongest childhood memory? I may have been as young as three or four, and I'm on a bus with my parents to visit my brother and his friend, who were camping on the outskirts of Glasgow. I have this vivid feeling of a glorious summery evening, building a dam on a little stream with my brother. It was just sheer joy. Where do you come in your family's birth order, and has this defined you? I'm the second of two boys, but my brother is 10 years older than me. As we got older we became brothers, but during my childhood he was more like a dad, a kind of father figure. My father wasn't a hugely confident man but he was very affectionate, and I was very close to him as well, yet paradoxically he was more like a brother. It's funny, but right until this moment, it never occurred to me that my father was more like a brother and my brother was more like a father. What do you expect to happen when you die? The atoms in my body will spread across the cosmos from whence they came. I expect to have no consciousness or specific immortality, but I do have confidence in a continuation in chemical and informational form, beautifully scattered across the universe. When were you happiest? Now. I've never been more blessed and happier than I am at this time in my life. Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life? Oh, God, I'm terrible at actors. I'm trying to think … What about Brian Cox, who played Logan Roy in Succession? [ Want to understand what money does to your brain? Look at this photo Opens in new window ] What is your biggest career/personal regret? I didn't do my PhD until my late-30s, and that had positives as well as negatives, but career-wise, I wish I'd done it earlier in my life. Regret, however, is a useless emotion, and it becomes more useless the older you get. I'm just so lucky to have been married for over 40 years. If I hadn't met Fiona, I'm sure I'd have a lot more regrets to tell you about. I'm a lucky, lucky man. Have you any psychological quirks? The psychological quirk I would admit to having is that before arriving in Ireland, I had a strange affinity for it in my mind. I don't know where that came from. Normally, people come to Ireland, get to love the place and want to stay, but I had this strange attachment to the place before I ever came here, before I ever met anyone Irish. In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea Ian Robertson will be at Dalkey Book Festival with Mark Little on Sunday
Irish Times
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Sarah Moss: ‘I'm a classic first child. A driven overachiever. Slightly neurotic'
How agreeable are you? You'd have to ask my family, but I think I'm fairly agreeable. I'd like to think I know which battles are worth fighting. What is your middle name and what do you think of it? My middle name is Kelly. It's actually my grandmother's maiden name. She was of Irish descent. Her father came over to Yorkshire in the late 19th century ... Nobody has ever called me Kelly. What is your favourite place in Ireland? The Burren. I encountered it for the first time when I was speaking at the Ennis Book Club Festival in March 2020, before we moved over to Ireland. Somebody came up to me at the book signing and said, 'Have you ever been to the Burren because from reading your books I think you'd really like it.' I said I hadn't, but that I'd always wanted to. She looked at her friend and said, 'Well, my friend and I go there every Saturday. Are you doing anything this afternoon?' I said I was flying out of Shannon at around six, and she said, 'Ah, sure, we'll get you back to Shannon by then.' So I just went off in a car with these two women I'd never met before, and we had an amazing adventure in the Burren. We did some hiking, they showed me a holy well and a ruined hermitage, and that amazing limestone landscape. As I was flying back through Birmingham that evening, lockdown happened, everything shut down, and that was the end of that for another few years. So it was absolutely the last moment I could have gone off in a car with two strangers and had a wonderful afternoon. I go to the Burren as often as I can – and those two women are now two of my closest friends in Ireland. Describe yourself in three words I was thinking about this. In the first piece I wrote for The Irish Times, I described myself as a bike-riding vegetarian feminist. So, yes, a bike-riding vegetarian feminist. I think they can put that on my gravestone. READ MORE When did you last get angry? A very long time ago. I'd have been in primary school, although I don't think I was much given to tantrums. I don't really do anger. Except when I'm on my bike and drivers nearly kill me, and then I get very uninhibited. I think I get angry only on my bike. What have you lost that you would like to have back? The confidence of my 20s. I think quite often, and probably as we get older, we become less sure about things. There's nobody so certain as a teenager, and I slightly miss that absolute conviction. I'm sure that I'm a kinder, gentler, and better person for not having that, but it made life very straightforward. Quite often, teenagers are right about things, albeit in a completely inexperienced kind of way. For most people, we've discovered the world is a bit more complicated than we thought; things aren't quite as black and white to us. What is your strongest childhood memory? Climbing mountains, mostly in the Lake District. I grew up in Manchester. My parents were very enthusiastic hikers, so they would collect us from school on a Friday, drive up to the mountains, and then we camped wild over the weekend. More than once, we woke up very early on Monday morning and were dropped back to school straight from the hills. Where do you come in your family's birth order, and has this defined you? I'm the oldest. How has it defined me? I'm a classic first child. A driven overachiever. Slightly neurotic. What do you expect to happen when you die? There's a Yorkshire folk song I used to sing with my grandfather – On Ilkla Moor Baht'at, and a line from it goes 'then the worms will come and eat you up ...' It is best belted out in a Yorkshire accent with your grandfather while driving across Yorkshire. Nobody knows what's going to happen, do they? When were you happiest? I'm pretty happy these days, but there's no absolute measure of happiness, is there? I now live in a place I really love. I have good friends within walking distance, and my kids are doing well. There is a reasonable level of contentment within my life. Globally, clearly not, but I'm turning 50 later this year, and I think that could also be a good time. Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life? I was going to look up actors, but I forgot. Morven Christie reads my audiobooks so beautifully with the right accents and tones, so let's go with her. What is your biggest career/personal regret? It's not really a regret, but I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't gone straight into academia, because at this point in my life, I've been on one end or the other of full-time education without a break since I was four. I have a strange idea that I might have been quite good in the emergency services, as I'm very good in a crisis. Personal regret? No, because you always learn from it. Have you any psychological quirks? How long have you got? I like rhythmic things – running, knitting , sewing, walking. Anything that's involved with iambic, heartbeat footsteps, I find very comforting. In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea Sarah Moss's new book, Ripeness, is published by Pan Macmillan
Irish Times
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Actor Ingrid Craigie on who would play her in a biopic: ‘Oh no, another part I'm not going to get!'
How agreeable are you? I think I am very agreeable. Sometimes maybe too much. I'm collaborative by nature; that's how I work best and how I negotiate life. I'm open to other people's opinions. I find conflict difficult, and the power of language to wound and deeply distress people. Language is so much a part of what I do, so I think I'm very sensitive to that. What's your middle name and what do you think of it? My middle name is Emily. I was named after my grandmother, my father's mother, who died before I was born. I've always liked the name. Where is your favourite place in Ireland? There's Mayo and Kerry and west Cork, but I always go back to Howth Head because we lived in Sutton for a while when I was growing up, when I was about 16. If I ever leave Ireland for work, I always have to go there and walk to get that sense – the smell, feel and sound of it – of being on the edge of the country. Describe yourself in three words. Empathetic, resilient, optimistic. READ MORE When did you last get angry? What makes me angry is the idea of children living in fear and pain, children who are clearly powerless. It makes me feel almost ill. I get distressed more than angry by seeing people being belittled, like the way Trump belittled Zelenskiy . I find it incomprehensible that people can behave in such an arrogant and ignorant way. What have you lost that you would like to have back? I don't think of things that I've lost, but of the people who have died, particularly people who have died too young. Obviously, the people that you love, like parents. I try to live in the present. I try not to waste the time I have. I'm very much aware that as the decades go by, I have less of it. What's your strongest childhood memory? I had a happy childhood, but my strongest memory is a poignant one. When I was seven, my mother was in quite a serious car crash. She was in hospital for, I think, a couple of weeks, but I never visited her. While she was in hospital, I went into my parents' bedroom. There was a blouse or a cardigan of hers resting over a chair. I remember picking it up, and her scent, her perfume, was on it. She always wore the same perfume – L'Air du Temps by Nina Ricci. Even now I get emotional thinking about it, that sense of 'When is she coming back?' Where do you come in your family's birth order, and has this defined you? I'm the second of two, so I'm sure it defined me. I came into the world very sunny and optimistic, but I think it's easier for a second child. My brother is four years older than I am, and apart from the early years when you just irritate each other, once we got into our teenage years, we became very close – and still are. I remember we'd have long, long talks about life and all sorts of things that were going on. What do you expect to happen when you die? It is the ultimate mystery, isn't it? In recent years I've had a sense of deep connection with people who have gone before. I am comforted by that sense because we never actually disappear forever, do we, because on a cellular level, we will always be here. When were you happiest? I know how fortunate I am. I'm very lucky to have good health, and I love my work and the people I love, and I have the ability to enjoy that. Do I have a reasonably constant level of contentment? Yes, I would say so. Which actor would play you in a biopic of your life? Oh no, another part I'm not going to get! Well, Zara Devlin is playing a younger me at the moment in Lovesong at the Gate. She's a terrific actor, so I'll let her do it. What is your biggest career/personal regret? In 2006 I was in a production of The Faith Healer at The Gate. It was directed by Jonathan Kent and featured Ralph Fiennes and Ian McDiarmid. I knew before we did it in Dublin that the show was going to Broadway, and that for various reasons – visas, Equity, and so on – they would not get permission for me to go. You don't know before you start rehearsing a play if you think it might be your part. Will you be able to do it? Will you be good? However, it turned out to be one of the most wonderful experiences in my theatre career. We finished the run, and they went to New York, but it broke my heart. It was like a love affair being torn apart for no good reason, and it took me a long time to get over that. Personal regret? I take responsibility for the choices in my personal life, and I'm absolutely at ease with those. Sometimes I think I could have done things differently, and obviously, I regret if I caused pain to people. What psychological quirks do you have? I'm not superstitious, but I cannot not salute magpies. You have to salute them or it'll be bad luck. I don't believe that, of course, but I still have to do it. In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea. Ingrid Craigie performs in Lovesong, Gate Theatre, Dublin, until Sunday, June 15th,
