When the five times All-Ireland medal-winner, FG deputy for Kerry North, Jimmy Deenihan stepped out in Croke Park last Sunday with his former Kerry team mates of 25 years ago, some thought he looked almost a shadow of his former self. Not so, he says. He dropped a stone, that's all, in six weeks' summer running on Ballybunnion strand, swimming in the sea, training the young lads at Feale Rangers and most of all eating sensibly, which means nothing to eat after 6 p.m. and no alcohol. "I dread getting back to the unhealthy life in Kildare Street. I'll put it up again."
Deenihan is captain of the Oireachtas rugby team, which takes on its parliamentary colleagues in Westminster annually, and will do so again come the new year. As he is always looking for recruits in and around Leinster House, potential players should beware that the diet and exercise regime is coming their way.