PAUL KIMMAGE SAYS he resigned as Brian O’Driscoll’s ghostwriter because of an interview the Ireland rugby star gave to a rival newspaper last weekend.

Penguin Ireland — who will publish the Leinster centre’s autobiography — today confirmed that Kimmage had been replaced by his friend and former colleague, Alan English.

“I’ve endured a lot of pain over the last few days because a loving relationship, like I had with Brian, has come to an end,”  Kimmage said at a Sunday Independent event in Dublin tonight.

“Nothing sensational about it but I’m very, very disappointed it has happened. Brian is a great person and it was great boost to my ego and reputation when he contacted me to see if I would ghostwrite his book.

“I was due to meet him on Saturday but heard that there was a possibility he was going to give a big interview ahead of the Six Nations weekend opener to a particular newspaper. I spoke to him and said Brian if you are giving an interview before the weekend it would be a big help to me if you could give it to the Sunday Indo.

He added: “Him talking to another paper wasn’t going to compromise the book or the Indo but that wasn’t a concession he was willing to make. I felt he was being unreasonable and he felt I was being unreasonable so we decided to go our separate ways.”

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