“My Aunt Moira, mam’s sister, was another formidable force. Her husband died young and she ran a very successful bakery and a coffee shop on the North Antrim coast. She started off baking bread in the kitchen at home as well as rearing six children. So, there is a strong line in both families.”

“And my mother was very creative. She played the piano by ear and the only time you got to hear her publicly was when she had a wee gin and tonic! She had a natural flair in so many areas of her life. She was very glamorous and great with clothes. She loved cooking and baking. She could have been an interior designer but in the end what she chose was to be a full- time mother and was so proud of her role. A very close friend of hers, who is a talented artist, encouraged her to paint during her Alzheimer’s years. It was so lovely to see her in a happy place painting away and showing natural flair.”

“Well, I particularly had gremlins going on in my head when I was doing Star Struck, my last show. It was a one woman show where I was stepping out center stage sharing the space with more musicians than I ever had before. One of the thoughts that came to me was, ‘There is probably someone out there saying who does she think she is?’. What gets me past that is reminding myself that it is not just about the performance. It is about entertaining and connecting with an audience and people going away feeling they had a good night out.”

“I think women are beautiful at every age and I think especially older women who have a sense of themselves. It hard to define what it looks like or what it is but again it is about having a strong sense of being yourself, being yourself and owning it!”