HEIMIR HALLGRIMSSON is from a small town whose inhabitants go on to do big things. The new Ireland head coach hails from Heimaey, an island off the coast of Iceland in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago. It is perhaps best known here for the 1973 eruption of Eldfell that led to the population being evacuated overnight on fishing boats.
Hallgrimsson said: “There was a big eruption in 1973, so all people needed to evacuate for a few months. “Half the houses in town went under lava and ash. Not ours, but we needed to dig it out.
“It is a beautiful place. You haven’t done anything if you haven’t been there, that is on your bucket list now.” The former Iceland boss still spends a lot of his time there but he is more often based in Reykjavik — where his two sons coach at Valur.
It is also where he still runs his dental practice and he will continue to go back even when Ireland manager as an escape from football. Hallgrimsson explained: “I have my clinic back in Iceland. "I will always try to do a little bit just to keep my hands and my head working.
“I’ll probably go back home next week and do a little bit. “First it’s good to have something else, I don’t have time for golf or shooting reindeers or whatever people do to blow off steam. "I do this, switch on, switch off and come fresh again.
Someone would think that is kind of strange.” And when filing and fillings are not doing it for him, how does he relax? He said: “I have an extremely energetic wife, sh.
