Catherine Conlon: Mike Ryan has all the makings of a president

Mike Ryan is reportedly being sounded out for the presidential election by Labour Party. Looking at the values such a role requires, he ticks all the boxes

Public health specialist Mike Ryan. At a time when the political arena is dominated by egotists, parties and individuals addicted to wealth and power, the need for an objective champion of truth as well as social, health, and climate justice has never been greater.

Public health specialist Mike Ryan has become the latest high-profile name to be targeted by political parties for a potential presidential run. On paper, he has all the attributes.

At a time of unprecedented global political, economic, and climate instability, what is needed are leaders with guts, determination and the desire to make a positive impact on the world stage.

Mr Ryan, aged 60, held the role of executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies programme, prior to his position as deputy director. At a time when the political arena is dominated by egotists, parties and individuals addicted to wealth and power, the need for an objective champion of truth as well as social, health, and climate justice has never been greater.

It is understood that the Labour Party has discussed the possibility of approaching Mr Ryan, who rose to prominence during the covid pandemic and has been an outspoken voice on the humanitarian costs of Israel’s assault on Gaza in recent weeks.

Mr Ryan was appointed to the role of WHO deputy director general last year but has recently been dropped from the new executive management team, following a funding gap of $1.7bn (€1.5bn) in its $4.2bn budget over the next two years.

US president Donald Trump ordered the cut via an executive order withdrawing the US from the WHO. It contributed $1.3bn during 2022- 2023.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said there have been a "number of names floating around" and "there’s certainly still discussion ongoing about the idea of uniting behind a candidate that would continue Michael D Higgin’s legacy." 

Core values

The WHO’s loss could be Ireland’s gain. Mr Ryan has a unique combination of core values, aptitudes and personality traits that align with what we perceive as presidential at a time of perpetual crisis on the world stage.

In Becoming You (2025) professor of management practice at NYU Stern School of Business Suzy Welch suggests that values are a poorly understood concept that often include attributes like personality traits such as optimism; or virtues, like integrity or generosity; or ‘big umbrellas of needs,’ like love and respect.

"For the record," states Prof Welch, "values are the desires, motivations and beliefs that animate our actions and decisions." This would include concepts such as wanting a big and interesting life or wanting to be wealthy or wanting to be a person that ends world hunger.

In other words, a value is something that is strong enough to influence decisions about what job you choose or who you want to spend your life with.

As part of her research, Prof Welch has identified fifteen core values, each one existing along a continuum. The values are in no particular order and none is more important than the other. But our position on the continuum of each value does give an insight into our suitability for a particular role – in this case the president of Ireland.

Of the fifteen values, the ones that I would rate as values aligning with the role of president include the following:

Radius: A measure of how much you value being in a position to change the world. This is not about fame but about "how big a crater there would be if your life was dropped on the world like a bomb." 

President Michael D Higgins meets with Mike Ryan on Janauary 5, 2022. Picture: Maxwell's

Welch suggests that "most people who have an off-the-charts high Radius ranking are coming from a noble place, galvanised by a soul-deep yearning to restore dignity to the powerless, aching and disenfranchised." 

Mike Ryan, while managing health emergencies in the WHO for the past 27 years, and leading the organisation’s response to covid -19 pandemic, as well as more recently deploring the atrocities in Gaza including child deaths and starvation, has consistently demonstrated a high Radius ranking.

Non Sibi is the Latin term for ‘not for self’ and as a value it reflects helping others as a life-organising principle. Another value that Mr Ryan would appear to rank highly.

Agency is a measure of self-determination as a life-organising principle. Steve Jobs personified agency as a value when he said "your time is limited so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other opinions drown out your own inner voice." In a nutshell, drive youe own bus.

Achievement: How much you value respect from your community, for being the very best you can be at what you do.

Work centrism: Linked to valuing achievement — placing work as a key priority in your life that defines your meaning and momentum.

Voice: A strong desire to say what you think. Mr Ryan’s recent comments about the atrocities in Gaza and previously about social justice and health justice — specifically in relation to the distribution of the covid-19 vaccine to low-income countries, were examples of his ability to speak his mind.

Welch lists other core values that all of us have to greater or lesser degree but may not sit as comfortably with the role of president. These include a desire for affluence; luminance (recognition); family centrism (how much family considerations determine your decisions; eudemonia (a measure of the pursuit of joy, fun and / or wellbeing in your life); and beholderhism (the degree to which how everything in your life, including your own appearance looks, matters to you).

Added to that are the values of connectivity — how important it is to you that you are part of large group of friends, or community; and finally, the value of place — how important it is to you that you live in a particular place or part of the world.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

The role of president, along with a set of core values also calls for particular aptitudes including the ability to get on with people and express yourself with courtesy, democracy and restraint. Added to that are key personality traits that include nerve or guts; soundedness (a mixture of positivity, self- awareness, integrity and resilience); a sense of curiosity to learn new things; and finally, elasticity — a willingness to continually expand our collection of skills and our collection of friends.

In the run-up to the presidential race the potential candidates already named combine varying sets of values. Some have demonstrated the degree to which they value affluence, outward appearances, the pursuit of joy, luminance and connectivity to a greater or lesser degree — qualities that may be less aligned with key core values of a president.

In his 27 years with the WHO, Mike Ryan has demonstrated radius, altruism, achievement, work centredness, and voice. He has a strong scientific background, integrity and a long history of front- line experience in dangerous situations for the good of humanity. He has demonstrated an ability to get on with people from all walks of life and ethnicities as well as a curiosity about how the world works.

Mix all that with a very large dose of guts — and you have the makings of a president.

Dr Catherine Conlon is a public health doctor in Cork.