Health scan

Francis Brennan, proprietor of The Park Hotel Kenmare, Co Kerry

Do you think you have a healthy lifestyle?

Actually, yes I do. While I’m not a gym-goer, I’m lucky I live in a very healthy environment. I often stand at the steps of the hotel and think how lucky I am to live in Kenmare compared with hotel colleagues who live in Moscow or New York. The air here is 100 per cent pure, whereas the air in Moscow during the summer, for example, was loaded with smog.

How often do you exercise?

Never, as such. I remember I bought a bike at the end of the hotel season and I was all go. That was in 1983. I have been on that bike only once. It now sits in my shed at home, awaiting my return – but I presume the tyres go flat after 27 years!

Do you get your five a day?

Yes, I do. I eat a lot of fantastic, fresh produce from a local organic supplier, so I get my fill of good bounty daily.

Do you worry?

Never. I have a great outlook on life. I have always worked long hours and hard shifts. I love my job and if it all ended tomorrow, I’d thank God for all the trouble-free years I’ve had to date. I am well into my second stage of life now and I trust he won’t let me down, but should it happen, Dollymount Strand better watch out – I’d be the happiest and best ice cream seller in the world!

What do you do to relax?

I’m hopeless at relaxing at home. I start to suffer feelings of guilt if I’m not at the hotel. It’s only if I am away with no grass to cut, windows to clean or the car to Hoover, that I can really relax.

What’s your unhealthiest habit?

I’m very focused on what I eat and rarely nibble between meals. Sometimes, though, I’ll feed the need for salt, and Tayto crisps come to the rescue. If I’m travelling, say on the new motorway between Cork and Dublin, and I haven’t eaten, I’ll drink a can of Coke to ward off a headache. But events like these don’t occur too often, so I think it’s not worth worrying about.

In conversation with Joanne Hunt