RICHARD Dunwoody, champion National Hunt jockey three times and twice a Grand National winner, was in Ireland this week to lend his support to the Irish launch of the Concussion In Sport research project.

The project is looking at the long-term effects of concussion in men and women who have competed in contact sports and is seeking to establish whether retired sportspeople have an increased, or suffer an earlier onset, of neuro-degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).