GOOD news for those into extreme sports or challenges of Iron Man proportions....a new test of strength has just been unveiled by Eircom – because from next month, the quest to find a phone box on Inis Mór will require a nine-mile swim and a 45 mile hike to the nearest public payphone.

Eircom have issued a notice on the island, informing locals, visitors and the wandering sheep that as of March 16, they propose to send a truck and two of their best men out to the island to remove the only phone box on Aran, at Kilronan.

Helpfully though, the notice advises customers of where they will find the next nearest public phone, pointing them in the direction of the mainland, gesturing vaguely towards a town to the northwest of the pothole in which you are now standing.

“Please note: The nearest alternative payphone is located at Letterfrack,” it states.

That won’t...