Lenten promises: can anybody last the full 40 days and 40 nights?

What do people give up for Lent, and how many of us have the staying power to see through our resolutions?

EASTER ain’t what it used to be. Self-denial may be more fashionable now than for a long while, but with the Limerick publicans set to serve drink on Good Friday, and with people more likely to cry off chocolate because they’re on diets than due to any Lenten principles, you have to wonder: does anyone give up things for Lent any more?

A teacher in school once told me that as well as giving up things for Lent, we could also take on things, such as good habits. It was advice I took to heart, and each Lent I spend an anxious few days trying to be a nicer person. It never lasts long.

So, what have other people given up this year, and have they stuck to it?

Arlene Hunt, novelist

Gave up: Alcohol

For: 40 days – and counting

I gave up red wine and will stay off it until April 19th, although to be perfectly honest that’s not just for Lent as I do it on a regular basis. You see, I like to race during the year, and my next 10km race is on April 18th. So Lent seemed a good time to take a break and get some serious training under my belt. Once the race is behind me I will most likely be found eyeing up the Bordeaux again.

Gary Coyle, artist

Gave up: Swimming and giving up smoking

For: The full 40 days

I’ve given up giving up smoking. I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that I am a smoker, have dropped the guilt, and – since Shrove Tuesday – I’m just getting on with it.

I have also given up going swimming every single day. That wasn’t to do with Lent, but to do with the fact that my exhibition, based on going swimming in the sea virtually daily for a decade, is on at the RHA at the moment. Seeing the results of thousands of swims on the walls of the gallery, I realised it was time to stop – for a while anyway. Looking out the window today and seeing the snow, I’m bloody glad.

Jarlath Regan, Comedian

Gaveup: Chocolate

For: A few days on, a few days off

My attempt to give up chocolate was going well until I saw Easter eggs on sale without their boxes. Cadbury said it was to reduce waste. To me the elaborate Easter egg box is both decorative and precautionary. Without it the egg is virtually naked, save for a flirtatious piece of tin foil. I nearly gobbled it on sight while making Cookie Monster noises. I’m back on the wagon now, but in a time of belt-tightening it is exceptionally hard to deny yourself the small luxuries.

Tara Heavey, Novelist

Gave up: Nothing

For: As long as possible

Giving up stuff for Lent – do people still really do that? Like chocolate. Why? To lose a few pounds, only to put it back on again in that mad eating frenzy known as Easter Sunday? Surely the recession has forced most of us to give up our luxuries already. Eat twice as much chocolate as usual – that’s what I say. Give up going to Mass if you must. Stop donating to the church. Instead, take up being nicer. Full-time. Not just for 40 days.

Denis Fogarty, rugby player

Gave up:Chocolate

For: The full 40 days

I give up something every Lent, but in the past I’ve often cheated and given up easy things – like Taytos, things I wouldn’t eat much of anyway. Chocolate was much harder, as I love it. This year it was half Lent, and half a bet, as my friends reckoned I couldn’t do it. Munster have a nutritionist, so she’s pleased. I plan to have two or three bars at Easter.

Tania Banotti, director of Theatre Forum

Took up:Running

For: 40 days (weekends, mainly!)

I didn’t give up anything for Lent – but I did take something on. Every weekend during Lent, my friend and I have been running up the Hill of Howth. We’re preparing for the Connemara Half Marathon and Lent seemed like a good time to take on extra training. It’s not actually anything to do with religion, but when the people around you are giving up, you start thinking: what can I do? With the weather we’ve been having though, I do have to say it’s been punishing sometimes!