1. When did you think about a career in music and what were your first steps into it?
I honestly can't remember a time when I didn’t sing. I joined my first band when I was 17, and although I gigged regularly for over five years I didn’t really think of it as a career until I auditioned for The Commitments in 1990.
When Alan Parker put me on the soundtrack I thought, 'I reckon I should think a bit more seriously about this'. It was after Eurovision 1993 when I went full time into the business.
2. Best gigs you’ve been to?
Bonnie Raitt at the National Stadium in 1991, first time I saw her sing. Lyle Lovett at the Ryman Theatre Nashville – when I saw this I knew why Julia Roberts married him – and James Taylor at the Prudential Theatre, Newark in 2017.
3. Fantasy wedding/birthday party band?
Stevie Wonder.
4. The record you’d take to a desert island?
James Taylor's Greatest Hits.
5. And the book you’d take to a desert island?
Masquerade by Terry Pratchett, or any other book by him.
6. Top three films?
Shawshank Redemption, for the drama; Some Like It Hot, for the laughs and the original animation of Beauty and The Beast, for the feel-good factor.
7. Worst film you’ve seen?
Titanic. I will never get that time back in my life.
8. Favourite authors?
Terry Pratchett, Agatha Christie and Maggie O’Farrell.
9. Sport you most enjoy and top team?
I'll watch any sport (I live with my husband and two teenage boys), but I don’t die if I don’t see it. I am a walker and enjoy lots of hill walking and dog walking.
10. Ideal holiday destination?
Donegal.
11. Pet hate?
Litter and waste.
12. What’s your favourite:
Dinner? Bacon and cabbage.
Dessert? Bread and butter pudding.
Drink? Water.
13. Who is your best friend and how do you know each other?
Sarah. We met through our kids going to the same school, but discovered we are just as competitive as each other. We both work unsocial hours and love to get out and about. Mostly we find the same things funny.
14. Is there a God?
For me, yes.
:: Date Night with Niamh Kavanagh and guitarist Paul Megahey (The Illegals) celebrates the 25th anniversary of Niamh's Eurovision win with a retrospective of special songs from the course of her extensive career. She will be at Newtownabbey's Theatre at the Mill on January 5 (Theatreatthemill.com) and Lisburn's Island Arts Centre on February 10 (Islandartscentre.com).
