Forty five winks

The concept of "uninterrupted sleep" is unknown to junior doctors in hospitals. They work more hours than the rest of the workforce combined, snatching a bit of "shuteye" whenever possible. Former Irish international scrum-half Niall Hogan, a doctor in Beaumont Hospital, was therefore not in the least discommoded when he managed a full 45 minutes the other afternoon.

After finishing a long and exhausting shift in Beaumont, he drove to the hotel of the Ireland Under-21 squad in Belfast as they were preparing for the international against Scotland. Having parked his car and checked in, he settled down for a few hours kip only to be woken 45 minutes later as the hotel had to be evacuated because of a bomb scare.

Hogan duly trotted down to the car park, identified his car, waited the 30 minutes or so that he and the team had to spend outdoors before the all-clear was given and then traipsed back to bed.