In February of 2004, I competed in the European championships held in Pula, Croatia. I won 3 fights with a broken right hand to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympic games. That was the greatest feeling I’ve ever experienced so far in life.

I still find it hard to talk about my Olympic experience. In my first bout, I was pitted against Angelo Lopez of Mexico. It was a fight I won, but felt I didn't box to the best of my ability. Next up was Ndam Njikam of the Cameroon. There had been a big build up to the fight. I didn't really feel under pressure at the time, but looking back now, I think I became too emotionally involved in the fight. After the first round I came back to my corner and found myself down on points. I knew I had to chase the fight now. After working hard and winning rounds 2 and 3, I was maybe 3 or 4 points behind going into the last round. I gave it my all and thought i had done enough to win, but after the fight I was told it was a countback. A countback occurs when at the end of a fight both boxer's scores are level, then the highest and lowest score from each judge are deducted from each other. It seemed to take forever for them to announce the winner.... Looking back now, I guess it just wasn't meant to be, it wasn't my night. And that was it, my Olympics were over. Four years of hard work. It had been a great ride. Even after losing, on return home to Limerick and especially Castle Connell, the people welcomed mehome as if I’d won the gold medal. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the people of my home town made it a lot easier to handle losing. I'll never forget the kindness and support of the people of Limerick and Castle Connell. And then for the first time in a long time, I found myself without direction, no upcoming competition to get ready for and a lot of time on my hands. And the only question left to ask was, what next?