1. How and when did you get interested in composing?

In college when I came in contact with Gerald Barry. Also, I liked the sound of Berio's Sequenza for voice, which I heard in UCC in 1982!

2. Is composing your 'day job' or do you do something else as well?

No, I teach. I also do a lot of accompanying for concerts, exams, etc.

3. Where do you mostly get your ideas?

They enter my head usually! A rhythm, a few pitches, or a texture. They usually come to me when I'm not in a position to write them down -- when I'm driving or at work.

4. What are you working on at the moment?

I'm doing a commission for RTE Lyric FM, which is almost finished. It’s six pieces for youth choir and small chamber ensemble. I’m also working on a set of poems by the Newfoundland poet, Al Pittman, for the Irish Youth Choir.

5. Describe your typical working day.

It varies: when at work I just get up in time to make it there! When not at work, I get up early, do an hour (never more) and have a break etc. -- all the day is spent in short working periods.

6. What is it like hearing a new piece played for the first time?

Exhilarating! Though sometimes I'm not sure about certain details, so the realisation that my thoughts and actual sounds differ is a little daunting.

7. What has been the highlight of your career so far?

The performance of my Overture in the National Concert Hall in 1994.

8. What has been the lowlight of your career so far?

Not sure, there have been quite a few: not having a performance after mountains of work -- that has to be the most disappointing thing for a composer.

9. What is your greatest ambition?

To be remembered, catalogued and appreciated after I'm dead and gone.

10. Which musician in history do you most admire and why?

Charles Ives, an insurance man by day -- a brilliant, and prolific composer

11. Which present-day musician do you most admire and why?

I couldn't name one. There are several I would admire for their reverence to the music score, technique, and mostly for a good attitude!

12. Which period of history would you most like to have lived in and why?

Baroque -- I am addicted to figured bass, and I think I would have worked well then!

13. What is the best thing about being a composer?

I don't really know, perhaps the satisfaction that I get from the work I do.

14. What is the worst thing about being a composer?

The long hours, which are usually anti-social ones. There are times when I am very isolated from people so that I can get the work done.

15. If you weren't a composer, what other career might you have chosen?

I always wanted to be a vet. I also might have been an artist, as I really enjoy painting and sketching.

16. What is your concept of heaven?

No country and western, and no folk groups.

17. What is your concept of hell?

The above.

18. What is your favourite food?

Pasta.

19. If someone gave you three months off with unlimited travel and living expenses, what would you do?

I would go to a hotter climate where I could swim all day, think about the meaning of life; then I’d probably ask for my job back!

20. If you could have one thing in the world that would really help you as a composer, what would it be?

Peace of mind. Failing that, lots of money.