Mick Wallace,independent TD for Wexford
Do you think you have a healthy lifestyle?
I do, yes. I eat well and I’ve been active all my life. I’m 56 now and I’m the same weight as I was 30 years ago.
How often do you exercise?
I train three football teams – Wexford Youths and Wexford county teams – so I’m on the pitch with them a good bit. I like to run as well, though not much in the past year as I had a problem with my arm. That’s fixed now, so hopefully I’ll get back to running soon.
Do you get your five a day?
I’d say I do. I live mostly on salad and vegetables. For breakfast I have my mother’s homemade brown bread – she’s 87 and she still makes bread for me. There is nothing that’s growing that I don’t love, I’m passionate about food.
I don’t eat to fill myself, I eat for pleasure, and I wouldn’t have a meal without a decent glass of red wine.
Do you worry?
Do I worry – there’s a six marker. The things that worry me most would be family issues. I have a hectic life between business, politics, sport and family. Given all the problems I have, I think I deal okay with it. I don’t worry too much. I wouldn’t survive in the Dáil if I worried about what is said about me. I have to bring myself to a place where I don’t give a damn about what they say. I’m an optimist to the bone.
What do you do to relax?
The thing that makes my body relax the most is sex. Red wine makes me relax, or reading. I’ve read all of Dostoevsky. Zola has 20 books on aspects of life in France in the late 19th century and I’ve read 15 of them. I’ve read all of Steinbeck. I’d be in a bad state if I couldn’t read.
What’s your unhealthiest habit?
It’s probably driving when I’m tired. I don’t sleep as much as I should and sometimes I find myself driving more than I’d like. I always say, you can sleep when you’re dead, but I could do with a bit more of it at the moment.
In conversation with
JOANNE HUNT
