Leinster and Ireland rugby player Robbie Henshaw has rolled out his up-and-coming eyewear brand to 80 stockists nationwide. The rollout sees the player pushing his first business venture, providing a collection of sunglasses and specially-designed ‘blue block’ glasses.

The latter are aimed at people who use screens in their daily lives, with the specialist glasses helping to deflect the blue light given off by computer screens.

The Athlone native – who scored his first try for Ireland in a 19-9 victory over England at the Aviva in 2015 – does not need prescription glasses himself, but his decision to launch his brand came about from personal experience.

The 25-year-old spends a lot of time in front of a screen watching match analysis and, in addition, is in his final year in an Arts degree in Geography and Economics at UCD – which means a lot of late-night studying. Henshaw, who launched his first business venture last year, said the idea to develop the eyewear range stemmed from speaking to a family friend who worked in the sector.

“I don’t wear glasses, but I explained to him how my eyes were getting a bit strained and I had itchy eyes from the glare off screens.

“We were on holidays on the River Shannon and ended up discussing ocular lens and polarised sunglasses.”

The collection launched last year with its own website, henshaweyewear.com and the sunglasses and blue block glasses are stocked in 80 opticians.

“A lot of our days consist of looking at screens – whether it be on a phone or on a laptop – and hopefully this can help. That is the appealing side for me, because of the importance of eye health,” Henshaw said.

There are 13 different styles of blue-block glasses available with or without prescription and nine styles of sunglasses, all available in three frame colours. From every purchase of the glasses, €5 goes to the to National Council for the Blind Ireland.

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