Downshire East UUP councillor Alex Swan admits to a lifelong fear of rats in this week’s Q&A

Do you have a favourite day of the week, and why is that your favourite?

Sundays. For years as a police officer I worked shifts including weekends, I hated working Sundays and loved being off like everybody else, and now that I no longer do shifts, that’s largely the case

What are your top three desert island reads?

The RHS A-Z of Plants, just in case it isn’t all desert, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, it’s a good complex read and finally Lost Lives so as not to forget what we as a community we went through

How do you ‘switch off’ after a long day of work - do you have a favourite pastime?

In the summer I love spending time gardening, it gives me great pleasure, possibly because I come from a long line of farmers. Come the winter I hope to help get Drumbo’s Men’s Shed up and running and in the dark winter evenings l love a good crime drama, preferably with a degree of realism

Is there anything you cannot live without? (eg your phone, coffee, running etc).

My phone, I use to play music, it’s my camera and photograph album, I receive and send texts and emails, I read the papers on it, then there’s Facebook, and finally I speak to people on it, it’s a phone after all.

Tell us something people might not know about you.

I’m terrified of rats

Once lockdown ends and restrictions ease, what are you looking forward to doing the most?

Living life as normal as possible. (and a haircut)

Where is your favourite place to eat out (post-restrictions) in Lisburn Castlereagh?

I suppose if I have to pick one favourite out of the many really good restaurants in Lisburn and Castlereagh it would be The Square Bistro.

In normal times (pre-pandemic) can you describe your perfect day in Lisburn/Castlereagh?

A sunny day spent pottering around the garden with the grandchildren ‘helping’, followed by a cold pint of the ‘blackstuff’ in Bob Stewart’s and maybe a bowl of seafood chowder

What is your earliest memory of Lisburn/Castlereagh?

My earliest memory, I can recall it like yesterday, I was standing in the doorway of an old wooden hen shed at my fathers farm, I was about to jump down so I can’t have been more than three or four, just as I was about to jump a great big rat ran out from under the shed and since then they terrify me, as stated above.

How would you sum up Lisburn/Castlereagh in three words?

Varied. Friendly. Home.