The shape I'm in: Hector Ó hEochagáin, broadcaster
This time he is about to take to the skies for a tour of Central America to celebrate TG4’s 20th anniversary.
“I’m very proud. I’ve travelled to over 100 countries for TG4 and now I’m coming back with a series from Central America, travelling to Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize,” he says.
However, for his own family holiday this year he intends to keep things simple and Irish.
Married to Dympna, the couple live in Galway with their two sons, Rian, 11, and Shane, 10.
“We don’t plan it. If the weather remains like this you could go anywhere. You could go to West Cork, Connemara ...”
An ambassador for Healthy Town 2016, Hector is encouraging Navan, Co Meath locals — and people living in towns right across Ireland — to get involved with health and wellbeing clubs, groups and events in their community.
The programme will run over an eight-week period during September/October.
* Find Healthy Town Ireland on Facebook — www.facebook.com/HealthyTownIreland
I go to a gym maybe three or four times a week. I do two body parts a session. So yesterday I did stomach and shoulders, then did my 20 minutes cardio to finish.
I’m the exact same weight I’ve always been — about 12st. I’m the same 32in waist and 32in leg that I was when I was 18.
I’m pretty happy about that. I just have bigger biceps, bigger shoulders, I can see my triceps.
It’s quite nice when they do come out. But it takes a bit of work.
We try to cook decent dinners for our children. I suppose we cut out a lot of white breads in our house. We don’t cook as many potatoes as we used to.
We try and have a balanced diet. We eat meat. We’ll also have our pork, we’ll have our fish.
We’ll have a lot of chicken and then some days I do turkey burgers instead of normal beef burgers.
I think we are trying to cook healthily like a lot of Irish families.
Lindt dark chocolate with a hint of orange with a cup of tea about 8pm.
Sometimes I think about work or projects, I shut it off.
I know a lot of people might have problems sleeping but if you do go to the gym a couple of times a week you sleep like a baby at night time.
The next day obviously you’ll be a bit stiff but I like that feeling.
I love watching sport on the couch. I train my kids in soccer and Gaelic. I’m very passionate about it.
On my days off I like cutting the lawn and doing a bit of gardening.
Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, Sean Boylan, Alex Ferguson, Steve Davis the snooker player who is also a DJ.
He can be the DJ after the meal— he’s really good.
The smell of petrol when I put it into my lawn mower on a lovely summer’s evening. Also the smell of cut grass.
I think I got my mother’s pointy nose but other than that nothing.
I grew up a red head I am proud of being a red head.
I nearly cried when I saw the husband of Jo Cox, the politician who was gunned down, talking so bravely on the BBC.
I’m a dad. That’s all you got to say.
I don’t like falseness in people. There’s a lot of it out there.
My mother always told me I eat way too fast. If there is one thing I’ve got to do is to slow down when I eat. I think that’s an Irish thing.
I try and go to Mass and I try and say a few prayers. Mass brings you a sense of community, a sense of getting to know the people in your parish.
And whether that’s standing on the sideline of the pitch — we need places to go to.
Seeing my kids line out for the local club in GAA. Seeing my son pop a ball over the bar from 20 or 30 yards.
Seeing the four of us sitting down and having a nice meal together — they’re talking to us and we’re talking to them.
Friends are also very important —they are almost like family.
