Heart checks

The very day that the colourful Independent deputy Jackie Healy-Rae was taken ill with suspected cardiac pains on his way from Kerry to the Dail, Oireachtas members and staff received a circular from Cardicheck offering them heart screening in Kildare House later this month. The 20minute test provides everything from electrocardiograms to counselling. The Minister for Health, Brian Cowen, may be first in line. At the launch of Irish Heart Week in Trinity on Thursday he volunteered for a blood pressure check. It was 155/90. "That's high," exclaimed the tester.