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One early morning riser who agrees with new Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's vision of working for "people who get up early in the morning" is Adrian Ahern.
The 57-year-old commutes on a daily basis from Ballinasloe in Co Galway to Dublin, a roundtrip that takes over five hours.
Mr Ahern, who covers a commuting distance of over 320km daily, says he has got used to being part of the “early morning risers” club.
"I commute from Ballinasloe to Dublin on a daily basis for my job at a Dublin hospital. When I get off the train, I take the Luas from Heuston Train Station to Jervis. From there I walk to St Stephen's Green and get the Luas out to Stillorgan, " Mr Ahern told The Irish Times.
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Mr Ahern certainly qualifies as one of Mr Varadkar’s “early morning risers” as his alarm clock goes off at 5.30am each day.
“I’m on the train for 6.10am before arriving at the front door of work for 8.45am. I have gotten used to the commute now and in fairness you can do a bit of work on the train so it’s not too bad.”
The Galway man approved of the sentiments expressed by Mr Varadkar who said he wanted to lead a party that works for the early morning risers.
“I agree with Mr Varadkar’s statement regarding the early morning risers because they are the ones who are keeping the economy going. Many suffered during the era of cut backs... All public servants took a cut and we all continued with the same working hours.”
He said there were 25 to 30 regular commuters on the train from Ballinasloe to Dublin who were working in the health care industry.
“We pay around €5,000 a year for our commuting tickets but it’s a bit less once the tax is taken away. It’s a good service to use each morning so being part of the ‘early morning risers’ isn’t as bad as people think,” laughs Mr Ahern.