How agreeable are you?

It depends on the context. It can mean going along with things, but I’m not naturally agreeable in that way. I am curious, however, and I’m a very good listener, which makes me agreeable in other ways, like in dialogue, listening, asking questions and so on. With journalism, it’s not your job to be agreeable, but I think being able to listen is important.

What’s your middle name and what do you think of it?

My middle name is Elizabeth, but I wouldn’t feel too connected to it. For my Confirmation name, I took Antonia, which was after my grandad Tony, because I thought it was as close as I could get to his name. As a 12-year-old, I thought it sounded like a woman version of Tony, so I went with it.

Where is your favourite place in Ireland?

I wouldn’t have a favourite, but I do have lots of special places. West Clare, particularly Lahinch, is very special. My husband is Australian, and before we met, he had been coming over to Ireland for years, surfing and stuff like that. We met through mutual friends in Clare, who I knew from college, and who he knew from surfing. We got married outside Lahinch in a seafood restaurant called Barrtrá. It wasn’t a big wedding, but it was 27 degrees, with an amazing pink sunset over the ocean. It was just a very, very special day, so that area is magical for us.

Describe yourself in three words.

I’m definitely intense; I’m a textbook Scorpio. I am curious and determined, although I do have some type-B tendencies when it comes to organising personal things, so my husband definitely takes the reins in terms of that.

When did you last get angry?

For me, anger tells me something is wrong, that a boundary has been crossed, or that there has been some kind of injustice. I tend to go quiet with it, internalise it, and then interrogate it by asking why I am angry and what’s causing it. In that way, I would hope that I wouldn’t misdirect it and blame the wrong people for it.

What have you lost that you would like to have back?

I lost a suitcase. From the end of 2019, I had been living in Australia, and I moved back to Ireland in 2023, about three months before our wedding. My husband had gone ahead of me to start a job in Dublin, and I was finishing up work and moving around a bit. In this suitcase was my wedding outfit, wedding jewellery, all kinds of sentimental, valuable stuff, souvenirs and keepsakes that I had gathered over the time of being in Australia, lots of stuff that was totally irreplaceable, and it went missing in one of the moves.

I still think about it. Sometimes it will just pop into my mind: ‘Where did it go?’ I went on numerous websites to see if I could track it down, and I had different people looking for it in different areas. Like, was it in an old house or a new house or whatever? But nothing. It just disappeared, and to this day I’ve no idea where it is.

What is your strongest childhood memory?

I’m very close to my siblings, especially my younger sister – we’re only 18 months apart. When I was maybe four, and she was three, I dressed her up in my mum’s clothes, with the lipstick on, high heels on, everything. We snuck out the back gate and got fairly close to the end of our road, and then a neighbour brought us back. We would very often take the opportunity to go out on adventures, much to my parents’ dismay, and we still have that desire to go on adventures together.

Where do you come in your family’s birth order, and has this defined you?

I’m the third of four. I have an older sister, an older brother and a younger sister, and yes, while it has definitely shaped me, I don’t know if it totally defined me. I was always trying to keep up with the older two – whenever we went on holidays, I wanted to go on the same water slides or rides as they did. That said, it was great being an older sister to my younger sibling, even though she is now very wise and I look to her for advice a lot of the time. My mother is a family therapist, so she was very intentional about having a special relationship with all of us. We all felt unique and special and loved, and to this day, the four of us are all very close, which is great.

What do you expect to happen when you die?

I don’t have fixed beliefs, although I’m thinking about it a bit more recently. I’m about to have my first child, and at the same time, my amazing nan, who is 102, isn’t very well, so at the moment, life and death feel quite close together. I have the experience of being pregnant after early miscarriage in the past, and it makes you realise that early life is fragile and that it’s closely linked to death, almost inseparable. In terms of when I die? I love the idea of a fun-filled funeral, with people celebrating me by doing my favourite karaoke songs.

When were you happiest?

I’m pretty happy now. I feel really lucky to be back in Ireland and to be near my friends and family. I have a new job that I’m passionate about, and I’m excited for the next couple of months. Nervous, too, but mainly excited about becoming a mum as well.

Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life?

I’m laughing here, but for a very brief time in school, I was into weightlifting and my family, my siblings, started calling me Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. I don’t know how or why, but that has grown into its own thing, with new iterations, and some of my friends still call me that. So, he would be my first choice, even though I know some elements aren’t quite there.

What’s your biggest career/personal regret?

I learned Russian in college, and for a year, went to Moscow, where I had a fairly high standard of the language. That standard has not remained very high, so that’s a regret, because it was such a difficult language to learn. Personal regrets? I don’t really have any.

Have you any psychological quirks?

It could be a feeling that I can fit a million things into one day, but I would over-plan and be unbelievably ambitious with my time. Occasionally, that works. That’s why it gives me hope, and then I’m like, yes, I’d definitely be able to do all this in one day. However, most of the time that doesn’t happen, yet I still have the belief it can happen, so I still plan that way. I would say it’s not an issue, but it has certainly been commented on.

In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea