Dark chocolate, green tea and documentaries help night owl Taoiseach deal with job stress

The Taoiseach said he was “very orientated” towards getting things done and obviously Covid had put pressure and slowed down many projects. Picture: Brian Lawless

Indulging in dark chocolate, watching documentaries late at night and reading a few chapters of a book are the Taoiseach’s way of coping with the pressures of his job.

Micheál Martin admitted that he can be “cranky and impatient” at the pace of progress and that he gets frustrated when he wants something done within a month but is told that it will take six months.

Walking and getting in his 10,000 steps every day were also important to him, he added.

Mr Martin said he was a night owl and liked to indulge in a square of 70% cocoa dark chocolate. “That’s my vice.” 

“I do watch my food. I am a fruit salad person – and green tea,” he told the Dermot and Dave show on Today FM during a light-hearted interview.

The Taoiseach said he was “very orientated” towards getting things done and obviously Covid had put pressure and slowed down many projects.

“That makes me anxious and that makes me worried.” 

Mr Martin said that he doesn't anticipate a dramatic return to restrictions or Christmas lockdowns despite the worrying number of Covid cases at the moment.

The Taoiseach also spoke about the tense stand-off between the EU and the UK amid threats to revoke Article 16.

He said that there has been an easing of tensions in recent days with regard to the Northern Ireland Protocol and there was a “dialing down” of the threats to revoke Article 16.

The Fianna Fáil leader said he had spoken with all the political parties in Northern Ireland on Wednesday and they all wanted Northern Ireland to continue to have access to the Single Market.

The issue was about more than just the Protocol, he said, it was about the continuing relationship of the two governments.

Mr Martin said that Boris Johnson was easy to talk to and was very good at engaging with people.

At the end of the day he was eager for a resolution, but his government was taking a circuitous route.