So at age 16 I got a work experience placement at RTÉ News, Ireland's public service broadcaster.  By age 18, I started a degree in journalism at Dublin City University.

My first break into broadcasting was a part-time job in local radio before moving to Independent Network News, the national radio wire service for Ireland's local radio network.

 

The completion of my degree course with a work placement at Sky News Ireland turned into one of the best jobs I could have ever hoped for after I graduated.  As its youngest reporter I travelled the length and breadth of Ireland with my little Panasonic DV Cam covering every story imaginable.  

From bread and butter stories about politics, crime and sport to the lighter side of life including record breaking lottery wins and a death defying escape by a lorry load of chickens on their way to the slaughter; I got to develop a wide range of journalistic "tones".  I got to meet and speak to some very interesting people along the way; celebrities and politicians such as Bob Geldof and Michael Bloomberg as well as ordinary people with extraordinary stories to tell.

 

Sky has been a fantastic learning ground for me.  After Sky News Ireland, I worked as a producer on its breakfast programme, Sunrise with Eamonn Holmes, and later edited the channel's Ireland news coverage.  Sky is a world leader in both breaking news and polished production and I am proud to have been part of it.  A highpoint was a trip to Malawi to see the efforts of Irish government sponsored aid workers to end hunger in the country.

In 2008 I took on a new opportunity at RTÉ News where I started as a reporter on News On Two - a late night programme aimed at young adults - but quickly moved into business news.

 

It was a challenging time for the team as the Irish economy was entering very dangerous territory.  As well as compiling and presenting a business segment on RTÉ Radio's "Drivetime" current affairs programme, the time was right for RTÉ to launch its first TV business news service and I was asked to develop it.  After a relatively brief gestational period - devising its concept, designing its graphics and developing a network of contributors - I went on to produce and edit it as a one man band.

The opportunity to return to Sky News and join its business team in 2010 was too good to turn down.  The global economic crisis continued to dominate the news.  Native knowledge of the circumstances leading to Ireland's bailout helped me deliver my first big breaking story.  That certainly wasn't the end of the Eurozone debt story and I have continued to cover the crisis and the efforts to contain it to this day.  Britain's choppy and uneven recovery has also kept me busy with the complicated web of links between rising inflation and dwindling consumer spending power.