How agreeable are you?
I like to have a sense of negotiation and engagement with people, and that sense of collaboration and coming to decisions is very much how I’m driven. I’m quite determined, also, so I like to achieve results. I value robust conversation, and I often wonder if that’s partly because I spent so long in the Netherlands, where they’re very, very direct.
What is your middle name and what do you think of it?
I don’t have a middle name. My full Christian name is Anne Marie, which is what I was given at birth, although at some point along the way, it got changed to Annie. If anybody calls me Anne Marie now, I automatically think I’m in trouble.
Where is your favourite place in Ireland?
The place that we would come to mainly for family holidays was Ardmore, Waterford, which I absolutely love. I think it’s a beautiful and very unspoilt village, and it has always been a lovely place to rest and replenish in the summer.
Describe yourself in three words.
Passionate, driven, fun.
RM Block
When did you last get angry?
I’m very much a Leo, and Leos get very cool when they’re angry. I think once you’ve breached my anger, it takes a lot to get the trust back, so I tend not to get angry very often.
What have you lost that you would like to have back?
My mother-in-law gave me a very beautiful silver bracelet that I lost. She’s long gone now, but I miss having precious mementoes and gifts, and I’m sorry I lost that. I travel so much for my job that I inevitably lose things. My husband says there’s an “Annie dance” before I leave the house, which is me searching for keys, wallets and other items because I tend to lose things frequently.
What’s your strongest childhood memory?
One really strong memory I have is being in France, I think it might have been Versailles, when I was around seven, and Mum spotted in one of the antechambers a small exhibition being set up of Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings. I don’t know how my mum did it – she was quite tenacious – but we managed to get in and have a sneak peek. The impact of seeing the drawings – the helicopter, the Vitruvian Man – blew my little brain. I think that was the first time I really fell in love with the idea of art and thinking about the possibility of art to connect.
Where do you come in your family’s birth order and has this defined you?
There are four daughters, and I’m the third, but my younger sister was nine years younger than me, so I went from being the youngest to suddenly having a little sister. On one level, I thought this would be glorious because she could take all the teasing and joshing that the youngest got, but, given that she was a baby, it didn’t turn out that way. You’re the mediator in one way but you’re also influenced by what happens with the older sisters; they’re the guiding lights and I was very much able to learn so much from them.
What do you expect to happen when you die?
A good long rest. I don’t expect anything other than peace and silence and to be returned to the earth.
When were you happiest?
I remember a family holiday when I was 18, just after the Leaving Cert. We went to France, somewhere close to Provence and Avignon, with a lot of family and friends. It was the feeling of the excitement of new steps, college, being on the cusp of something, being surrounded by everybody, and the relief of getting through the gruelling Leaving Cert. That was a very happy and celebratory time.
Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life?
Even though it would be unrelentingly dull to have a biopic of my life, I think any of the wonderful women in Derry Girls would be perfect, but maybe it should be Siobhán McSweeney because I love her penchant for dramatic cloaks and dresses.
What’s your biggest career/personal regret?
I’m so happy right now being director of Imma, but I think the thing I miss the most is teaching, as I used to teach a lot at third level when I was in the Netherlands. I was also working as a curator there, and I miss the interaction with artists and being lucky enough to engage with them. I don’t feel I get enough time to do that now.
Have you any psychological quirks?
Doggedly looking for the new is probably my most distinctive quirk, and that can sometimes mean I’m in a terrible hurry to do things, maybe a bit too speedy for people around me.
