How agreeable are you?<\/p>\n
Partly for my job, I have to be as agreeable as possible. The role of being a diplomat is to have really great relationships that enable you to represent your country and to pursue the interests of your country. Also, working with a team where you want them to be confident, creative, and come up with great ideas, it serves to be agreeable. That doesn\u2019t mean that I\u2019m not tough when I need to be. This applies to parenting<\/a>, as well, although I\u2019d love my kids to be asked that question and see what they say.<\/p>\n What is your middle name and what do you think of it?<\/p>\n My middle name is Justine, and I look at it from a slight distance because it doesn\u2019t quite feel like it\u2019s \u201cme\u201d, if that makes sense. It doesn\u2019t have a family connection; when she was younger, my mum was a fan of the writer Law<\/a>rence Durrell<\/a>, whose 1957 novel, Justine, I remember being on our bookshelves. I wonder if that\u2019s what inspired her.<\/p>\n Where is your favourite place in Ireland?<\/p>\n I love spending time in the area where my husband is from, just outside Ballinasloe<\/a>. It\u2019s a special place to me. I love the peace of it, the sound of the animals, and that it\u2019s very green and has lots of fields. One particular part of Ireland I\u2019d always go to is the sea road, effectively, that goes from Ballyvaughan<\/a> to Galway<\/a>. It\u2019s one of the most beautiful stretches of road I\u2019ve ever driven on. And at New Quay, there is a very chilled seafood restaurant that I love called Linnane\u2019s Lobster Bar. On a sunny day, if I were going to teleport somewhere in Ireland for a couple of hours, it would be there.<\/p>\n Describe yourself in three words<\/p>\n Positive, determined, and \u2013 I\u2019ve thought hard about this \u2013 a mummy. For people to really understand me, they should know how delighted I am to be a mother and a parent. So, yes, positive and determined, but being a mother and a parent is also a huge part of who I am.<\/p>\n When did you last get angry?<\/p>\n I\u2019m not a very angry person. I don\u2019t think it serves you at all, and it isn\u2019t helpful as a leader, either. Injustice can make me cross when I think somebody\u2019s been treated really unfairly, but on the whole, anger is a waste of emotion. I prefer to look at what\u2019s next, what\u2019s positive.<\/p>\n What have you lost that you would like to have back?<\/p>\n I lost my dad 16 years ago. He was a really big figure in my life. I\u2019ve got two sisters, and my mum\u2019s still around, but we always sense his absence, massively. I feel very lucky because he was a brilliant dad to his daughters. He noticed when we had new clothes, he was massively encouraging, and he never made me think that there was something I couldn\u2019t do.<\/p>\n What is your strongest childhood memory?<\/p>\n I grew up in the countryside, in West Cumbria, on the edge of the Lake District, which is where I got my love of hillwalking, something that we always did as a family. Sometimes, my dad would take us to London<\/a>, which was as far away from where I grew up as you could possibly imagine. We were a family of five, and my dad was a genius at finding things that were exciting for kids, but which cost little or no money. My memories of exploring London on the buses, going to amazing museums that would have had free admission at the time, eating my first-ever McDonald\u2019s \u2013 you know, the kind of things we couldn\u2019t get at home. Those are brilliant memories, and to this day, even though I\u2019m a country girl by upbringing, I get a thrill of excitement every time I touch down in London. The diversity, the energy, the possibilities \u2013 I just think it\u2019s a brilliant place.<\/p>\n Where do you come in your family\u2019s birth order, and has this defined you?<\/p>\n I\u2019m the middle of three girls, and I love having a big sister and a little sister, although the little one is definitely the boss. Sometimes I would forge alliances between the other two, with me being the one left out. But, no, I don\u2019t think it defines me.<\/p>\n What do you expect to happen when you die?<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think about it too much, but I feel comforted by any possibility of my parents reuniting. I\u2019m conscious that even when you\u2019ve lost somebody, they can continue to guide and help you. Because you\u2019ve known them really well, you can sort of hear their voice, so it would be great if I could be around like that for my children.<\/p>\n [\u00a0\u2018I\u2019ve got an amazing m\u00fainteoir\u2019: Kara Owen, the new British ambassador to IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n When were you happiest?<\/p>\n I\u2019m happy now. I\u2019m doing my dream job, and I feel incredibly lucky that I\u2019ve finally got there. I\u2019m fascinated by the relationship between the UK and Ireland. I like the culture here. My family\u2019s happy, and I\u2019ve brought my Irish husband back home.<\/p>\n Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life? <\/p>\n I want Sharon Horgan<\/a> to play me because I think she is such a genius. I think Jessie Buckley<\/a> is phenomenal, too, and also Eve Hewson<\/a>. I\u2019ve seen them play parts that have got real spirit and resilience, and I admire the characters they\u2019ve played and the way they\u2019ve done it. It doesn\u2019t matter about facial similarities because I can\u2019t think of any actor who looks like me.<\/p>\n What is your biggest career\/personal regret?<\/p>\n I try not to have them. My dad used to say that you shouldn\u2019t have regrets about any choices you\u2019ve made because you make the best decision you can at the time with the information you\u2019ve got. Every job I\u2019ve done, I\u2019ve got a huge amount out of, and I\u2019ve loved every country I\u2019ve lived in. Personally, as well, I\u2019ve always tried to make the best choices I can.<\/p>\n Have you any psychological quirks?<\/p>\n Definitely. I get an unusual kick from hard work, and the more challenging something is, the more I love it. There\u2019s a flip side to this related to what I said about tenacity or being determined, in that sometimes there\u2019s a point when you should accept that the chances of getting something over the line aren\u2019t worth the effort any more. Having fun at work is also very important to me. Throughout my career, I\u2019ve loved the fizz of being around brilliant people. One of the first things I told the team on arrival in Dublin is we should always be up for fun and never take ourselves too seriously, including me. I also go crazy without exercise \u2013 the wheels fall off without it \u2013 and it energises me. I\u2019m quite sentimental about objects, as well. If somebody I love gave me something and I lost it, I\u2019d be very sad about it, more about the loss than the value. Agus b\u00edonn cup\u00e1n tae ag teast\u00e1il uaim i gc\u00f3na\u00ed … I\u2019m convinced it helps me think better!<\/p>\n In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How agreeable are you? Partly for my job, I have to be as agreeable as possible. 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