THE team of former Irish rugby internationals gathered in Dublin's Shelbourne Hotel last Tuesday weren't, as some onlookers might have imagined, planning strategy for this afternoon's match at Lansdowne Road. In fact, they, turned up to support their old pal and former team member Michael Kiernan who'd travelled up from Cork for the day to launch his new £6 million holiday villa development in Tenerife.
Although he usually runs a company called Traders Financial Services in his home city, the Tenerife scheme isn't Mr Kiernan's first undertaking in the property field. He originally ventured into the area back in 1992, shortly before announcing his retirement from rugby capped 43 times, his last appearance for Ireland was against France in Dublin in 1991. Having successfully launched schemes at Waterville Bay in Kerry and Covemill in Cork, he and his business partner, Cork dental surgeon Richard Fitzgerald have now decided to turn their attention overseas.
The two men, it turns out, have more than just a shared interest in the property market they're married to sisters. Mr Fitzgerald's wife Maeve gave birth to a boy last Wednesday, which coincidentally was Michael Kiernan's 35th birthday. Meanwhile, Mr Kiernan's wife Anne (another dental surgeon) who he married in June 1988, is expecting the couple's third child this weekend. As a result, he thinks it's unlikely he'll make this afternoon's match. However, still on the ball where his old game is concerned, he predicts Ireland will win today by "in the region of 12 points".