Garry Hynes co-founded Druid in the 1970s, and is not going to stop and rest on her laurels yet.

Anne Doyle, 61, is thriving on all fronts since she retired as news reader from RTÉ at the end of 2011. Between volunteering as an ambassador for her native county, Wexford, writing short stories and travelling — last stop Jamaica — life has been “surprisingly easy”. She had a flu six months ago. “It was very sapping, and when I recovered I found I was a bit aimless and felt I had to get some structure on my day. But it must have been the flu, because it passed,” says Anne, whose long-term partner is former restaurant owner, Dan McGrattan.