Health scan lifestyle Q&A

Broadcaster and Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Award nominee, Joe Duffy

Do you think you have a healthy lifestyle?

My lifestyle borders on the contemplative, nay, monastic and I treat my body like a shrine. Unfortunately, “basilica” is the word that comes to mind when I avert my eyes from any reflective glass I inadvertently pass.

How often do you exercise?

As Ripley says, believe it or not, I exercise religiously. I swim each morning at 6.20am in a local pool – viewing tickets available through Ticketmaster. Indeed, some of my deepest thoughts have arrived unheralded in the shallow end of the Westwood pool. I also try to walk the Muro del Torres every day, to southsiders, that’s the Bull Wall in Clontarf. My exercise routine is a bit like my walk, a forward stumble, going in the right direction but haphazardly. I need a personal trainer.

Do you get your five a day?

I live in a household of five, that’s my five a day. I try fruit but the apples are too hard, sour or covered in awful inedible sticky labels, and the oranges are too acidic. I have a soft spot for pears but they simply cannot be had on the open market in post-war Dublin. As for Kiwi fruit, those on sale in Ireland are so hard that they would have provided a stronger foundation to Celtic Tiger apartments than pyrite.

Do you worry?

Of course I worry – incessantly. At this stage, I worry about worrying, but remind myself every now and again that once my worries are not about me or my family’s health, I have little to worry about.

What do you do to relax?

Relaxation is a solitary occupation. I swim, walk the Bull Wall, paint, listen to my Aldi mp3 player and read. Not at the same time.

What is your worst habit?

Spending too much time on my own and not answering the phone

In conversation with Joanna Hunt

Joe Duffy's book, Just Joe: My Autobiography, is nominated for the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards