• Question: what is your favourite thing to do when your not in the lab or working???

    Asked by niamh to Enda, Jean, Kate, Kev, Tim on 9 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Jean Bourke

      Jean Bourke answered on 9 Nov 2012:


      I love the internet! There’s always something interesting to read about…I don’t know if that counts…

      Cooking, it is a science after all, and food are major passions for me. I cook for my housemates and we hang out and chat, often we have friends over too. When you work a lot it’s nice to unwind with friends and catch up.

      Going out for food is always fun: a couple of my college friends and I meet up regularly to try different restaurants and cuisines that we’ve never had before. At home I have an extensive collection of cookbooks and several recipe scrapbooks that I enjoy browsing.

      I’m beginning to worry that I might be a bit boring…. 🙂

    • Photo: Tim Downing

      Tim Downing answered on 10 Nov 2012:


      Hi Niamh,

      I like to get outdoors – doing sports mainly – I suppose the is the polar opposite of being in a science lab doing analysis. This could be anything from playing football with friends to canoeing on the Corrib here in Galway to cycling through Connemara. I enjoy racing and have done cycling and triathlon events in Germany, Hungary and other places. I like exploring new things and am doing a diving course at the moment so I can eventually do deep sea diving to take photos of basking sharks off the Irish coast!
      Tim

    • Photo: Enda O'Connell

      Enda O'Connell answered on 12 Nov 2012:


      Hi Niamh,

      I love spending time with my two year old son Charlie when I’m not at work. He’s great fun and really curious so maybe he’ll be a scientist too! He loves playing with bricks and Lego but his latest fascination is DIY. He saw me take apart one of his toys which wasn’t working and fix it for him with a cordless screwdriver, so now he wants to take all of his toys apart. I even bought him a toy cordless screwdriver which actually spins like a real one, so now his favourite thing is trying to unscrew the hinges on all of our doors!

      When I’m not putting our house back together again, I love football (playing 5-a-side, watching the Champions League and playing fantasy football with my mates), reading (science, ancient history and fantasy like Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and the Discworld novels) and going to the cinema.

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