the last week in November. Friday, November 29th, is seen as the most likely date since Irish elections and referendums are usually held on a Friday.

There was some loose speculation in Leinster House, on the first day the Dáil returned after the summer recess, that this could be the date of a potential general election if a Brexit deal is struck and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar decides to go to the country.

However, other TDs said this was a “gargantuan if”, given the current state of play in the Brexit talks, with significant gaps remaining between the EU and UK.

A general election must be held within 30 days after the dissolution of the Dáil and polling day must be between the 18th and 25th day, excluding Sundays, after the writfundraising campaign to run 20,000 miles Around The World in aid of charities in the North East of England.

Whilst not pursuing a world record, the run is following two aspects of the Guinness World Record criteria used, not in running, but in cycling for “fastest circumnavigation of the globe by bicycle”; To travel a minimum of 18,000 miles (28,968 km) and to travel through two approximate antipodal points (i.e. opposite points on the planet).

The purpose of using the criteria is to, at least, give credibility to the claim that I will “run around the world”.

The distance of my chosen route is 20,000 miles (32,189 km). The chosen antipodal points are La Coruña in Spain and Christchurch in New Zealand.

The run Around The World is split into 9 stages,