Luke O'Neill

You wouldn't think to look at them or talk to them, but that seems to be the case.

And they reckon it's partly because they take so many saunas.

So it's been an area that's been sort of investigated, a bit lighthearted, but there is good evidence that taking a sauna can actually be very, very good for you.

And in Ireland, there's a boom going on.

And reason number three for this topic is I was down in Ballybunion, of all places recently in County Kerry, and I noticed two saunas beside the beaches there.

And if you go around Ireland now, you will see saunas all over the place.

Mobile saunas.

Booming.

And for example, I'll give you some statistics.

There's more than 200 public saunas now in Ireland.

And 90% of them have opened since 2020.

It just shows you.

And what's happening here is people, Irish people, love to go for a cold dip.

It's very common.

Kind of began during the pandemic, actually.

People would jump in the sea to feel alive or whatever.

And now they like to climb into a sauna either before or after that.

And that's what the Finns do commonly.

They will have a sauna and then jump out and roll around in the snow.

So it's this hot-cold combination that turns out to be especially prominent.