My father was a part-time bookmaker, who stood at the old dog track in Cork, as well as the southern point-to-points and the trotting races on the West Cork and Kerry circuit. From the age of nine or 10 I used to clerk for him but in those days it was a very different business - the country was flooded with bookmakers and you had to bet for five years before you had any chance of getting a pitch on the track.

I got my own licence at 19 and stood at my very first point-to-point at Lisgoold. I was so nervous, but within a few minutes it seemed like second nature to me and I was shouting the odds as good as any of them.