Today FM broadcaster Ian Dempsey has returned to his morning show after a three-week battle with pneumonia.

The popular breakfast show presenter said he was delighted to have gone back to work last Thursday, saying "cabin fever" had kicked in.

Dempsey was on holidays in Portugal last month, where he owns a home, when he said he fell ill very suddenly.

"I had spent a week in Portugal, taking a break from work and was just on my way back to Ireland. Somewhere between passport control and departures I began to feel very shaky and very shivery; it came on all of a sudden. I didn't know exactly what was going on but I saw a doctor very quickly."

He was later diagnosed with the virus which he says left him paralysed completely once he returned to Dublin.

"I could hardly move, Pneumonia really takes it all out of you. I had to, obviously, take time away from the show but Phil Cawley did a great job filling in for me."

Cawley currently presents the Saturday Show, and was helped out by presenter Bob Conway when Dempsey fell ill.

"It was unfortunate, be­cause I was just returning home and getting ready to go back onto to show. But I had no energy, and the doctor put me on three different kinds of antibiotics which of course completely knocked me out, so there was no way I could have made it into work. I did have one week's holiday, though, so I suppose I should be grateful for that at least."

More serious incidences of pneumonia, which accounts for around 5% of deaths in Ireland, include extreme confusion and hospitalisation.

However, Dempsey re­mained at home recovering and says he is now fully back to good health and delighted to return to work.

"I got over it fast enough. It could have been a lot worse. But by early last week the cabin fever was really beginning to set in. I'm looking forward to just getting back to normal now."