The two phrases synonymous with his era of power are the "glasnost" (openness) and "perestroika" (reform). He brought about much change, shifting resources away from Soviet control to that of the people and, on an international level he worked to end the arms race with the West.

Glasnost gave new liberties to Russians, such as a greater freedom of speech.

Gorbachev hoped that through openness, debate and participation, the Soviet people would support his reform initiatives and, as part of this, the media became far less controlled in what it was allowed to say, and thousands of political prisoners and dissidents were released.

Apart from glasnost, he tried to reform the Communist party and the state economy in 1986, by restructuring it and implementing economic reforms to improve living standards and worker productivity. This was called perestroika, restructuring, and I think that to bring about that kind of change in a country the size of Russia was incredible. He was so progressive, because he could see what poverty was doing to the Russians, and he knew that he had to build up industry and build up the spirit of the people. Glasnost was his great moment.

One of the things Gorbachev was best known for was addressing what seemed to be one of the great plagues of Russia . . . alcoholism and public drunkenness. He challenged the distillers, and I thought it was a very courageous thing to do on behalf of the people. He took on the vodka industry, in a country where vodka was cheaper than orange juice, and was rendered extremely unpopular at home.

This was evident when he ran for president in 1996, and only received 0.5% of the vote.

Nonetheless, Gorbachev's achievements were recognised outside of Russia, and he was awarded the Nobel Peace prize. His footprint in moving Russia forward was extraordinary, and he managed to move the people out of an age of real darkness.

I've been to Russia and it's such a beautiful country. The people are wonderful, and very like the Irish . . . they're full of great grief and sorrow in their history, and full of fun and merriment at the same time. The reason I was there was because my husband, Gareth O'Connor, was invited there to teach about modern western methods of the treatment of alcoholism. He's a doctor and the chief psychiatrist at the Betty Ford centre, and has been working in this field for 20 years.

We were speaking with a lot of people over there who were involved in the field of addiction, and they told us it was Gorbachev who first made the statement that the number-one problem in Russia was alcoholism. He tried to educate people about the terrible disease of alcoholism and, while we were there, we found posters gathering dust in the drawers of the State Museum. The posters were educational ones, drawing attention to issues associated with alcoholism, such as domestic violence.

I thought it was such a shame that a massive educational move that was spearheaded by a leader like Gorbachev should be discarded in this manner.

Of course, we all saw what happened that dreadful weekend in 1991 when the Soviet Union was formally dissolved. Gorbachev was deposed and put out of office, and was replaced by that total drunk, Boris Yeltsin, who was too inebriated to get off the plane when it landed in Shannon. Appointing him represented such a significant defeat of all the aims that Gorbachev espoused at the time.

Since then, he has founded the Social Democratic Party of Russia and the Gorbachev Foundation, and only two weeks ago founded a new political party in Russia, called the Union of Social Democrats. He was married to Raisa from 1953 until her death in 1999. They have one daughter, Irina, and two granddaughters.

And of course, more recently he has devoted his patronage to wonderful environmental issues, which is an issue that is very close to my heart. He has quietly spearheaded and championed lots of the environmental organisations, and has been involved with the green movement behind the scenes. That kind of leadership is so necessary in the world, because sometimes when I find myself whining about my costume, or why I'm not in a scene, or that someone has a bigger part than me, I have to remind myself that two thirds of the world don't have clean drinking water, which is a very sobering thought.

Gorbachev opted not to have his famous crimson birthmark removed, as he believed it would be perceived as him being more concerned with his appearance than more important issues. He had to trademark it in 2004 though, after one of the vodka companies he despised featured the mark on its labels to capitalise on its fame.

He always impressed me as someone whose word you could take, and there are very few politicians you could say that about. He had a lot of commonsense, he wasn't a bragger, and there was a selfeffacing aspect to him. He never seemed to be someone who had an enormous ego, and he was very intelligent . . . super-intelligent.

Gorbachev stands out among political leaders as a man of immense integrity, and one who actually understands what leadership is about. He knows it's about what you accomplish, and how you serve the people whose care has been entrusted to you.