I'm a better player because of it. I currently work at Equifax and I have to say that they've been brilliant over the years and have always tried their best to accommodate my snooker.

How many competitions do you play each year? Do you have a favourite venue?

I play 15-20 competitions a year and I'd say the Ivy Rooms in Carlow would be my favourite venue.

You have met and played against some of the world's top snooker players. Who did you enjoy meeting/playing against the most?

I learned a lot from practicing with others, whether it be in Ireland, playing against the likes of Ken Doherty, Fergal O'brien, Patrick Wallace and Davy Morris and a couple of others, or in Leeds practicing with Peter Lines, or in Sheffield playing in the academy with Ding Junhui and the other Asian lads. I would watch a lot of other players, especially when I was playing in the qualifiers for the professional tournaments. The players there wouldn't be household names, but they knew snooker inside out. Players like Dave Harold, Barry Pinches and Marcus Campbell were brilliant at match-play snooker and hard to play against. Up close, the best players I've seen were Ding and Jimmy White. They were just gifted.

In 1999 you defeated Rolf De Jong to win the World Under-21 championship in Egypt. How was that experience for you?

Looking back on it, it was brilliant. There were a lot of hard matches along the way and I remember being incredibly nervous before the final. I kind of had to play through the nerves in the first session.

I was really happy that I won it, not for myself, but for my parents and for Larry Codd and Pat Furlong who used to sponsor me and drive me to tournaments. I was blessed to have these four people in my corner.

You must've felt a lot of pressure after winning the Under21 championship? Was it hard to live up to the name you made for yourself at such a young age?

Definitely. I hadn't won any big senior tournaments in Ireland before that, so I had to prove myself there. Eventually I did and then I went across the water to live in Leeds. It took me about six months to win and string matches together and I found it to be tough going.

Then I won a Pro-am in the Northern Snooker Club in Leeds. All small steps along the way, but it was progress.

In 2010, you managed to achieve what every snooker player dreams about by making a 147 at the IBSF World championships in Syria. Just how much did that mean to you?

The adrenaline rush was great. It was electric. I had played really well throughout the tournament, that's what was satisfying. I got beaten in the semi-finals, but it was one of the few tournaments that I played in that I have absolutely no regrets about how I played.

You seem to do a fair bit of travelling in order to compete in competitions etc. Is this a part of it that you enjoy or do you find that factors such as jet-lag can affect your game?

I don't mind it. Jet-lag and the food can be a pain. The Arabic countries are very hard to play in due to the food. It is so different. At a tournament that lasts a fortnight, I could lose a stone weight. You just try to battle through it. What are your goals for 2012? I'd like to win the Irish Amateur championships again and I'd love to win the World Amateur championships.

Finally, what advice would you offer to any youngsters looking to start out in snooker?

Try to get the basics right. Keep your eyes on the ball and keep still on the shot. Practice a lot and most importantly, enjoy it.