SENATOR David Norris has proven that not all politicians break pre-election promises, by going under the razor for a good cause.
The popular Joycean scholar took the plunge and shaved off his trademark beard on the Ray D'Arcy Show yesterday morning.
Mr Norris, who had sported his beard for 40 years, had promised on the Today FM show that he would lose the facial fuzz if listeners voted against the recent referendum to abolish the Seanad.
The Republic's government lost the referendum and has now said it will reform rather than scrap the upper house.
The 69-year-old senator, who revealed in June that he was battling liver cancer, joked that he feared that "all my strength may ebb away as I have my beard shaved" like the Old Testament's Samson, whose hair was the source of his strength.
When the deed was done the former presidential candidate said his new look took him by surprise, comparing himself first to a bank manager and then to the Republic's finance minister Michael Noonan.
Mr Norris, who has served in the Seanad since 1987, previously revealed to D'Arcy that although optimistic about his future he had already made arrangements for his funeral, including choosing the undertakers and selecting the music.
All cash raised from yesterday's event, which was part of Today FM's Shave or Dye fundraiser, will be divided between the Irish Cancer Society and fellow Independent senator Professor John Crown's clinical cancer research trust.