Nicky
Nicky grew up in Baldoyle which is in the north-east of Dublin,
Ireland. He
has one older sister called Gillian, 22. And a brother Adam who is 11.
He
comes from a very close family and has lots of cousins who he is close
with
as well.

Nicky's dad is in a band called Nikki and Studz. They are pretty
successful
around Dublin. When Nicky was younger he use to help his dad set up the
gear. He had a song book and Nicky would sing in his microphone in the
empty
cabaret halls. When Nix was young he was very sensitive. He use to come
home
from school and if his mam wasn't in he use to cry at the door. Even if
she
just got delayed at the shops, He would think horrible things had
happened.

When he was 6 he got the croup, which is a really terrible cough, it
was so
bad that he had to be put in and oxygen tent in hospital. It was only
for a
day but it was the most frightening time of his life and he cried for
hours
when he was left on his own.

Nicky went to Baldoyles Boys National School from 4 to 12 and then to
St
Nessains Secondary school. The first time he got up and sang in front
of
people was when he was 6. He sang 'Karma Chameleon' with his dad. He
also
did his first school play at that age too. Later on he was offered the
part
of Danny in Grease but turned it down as he didn't have the guts.

Apart from Singing Nicky was an amazing footballer. He has played footy
since he was tiny and his dad use to be a good goalkeeper for a Dublin
team.
He coached Nicky when he was 5 and he played in mini-leagues and his
dad use
to shout out 'Go Nico' when the time was right to dive at a player. He
was
brave and so he totally trusted  his dad's judgment, and he would make
the
most amazing saves for a little fella. Nicky nearly always played in
goal
but sometimes he would play outfield. He was a massive Manchester
United fan
and his idol was Lee Sharpe. When he was 7 he started playing in goal
for
Home Farm football club and stayed there till he was 15. Home Farm was
the
best schoolboy football club in Ireland so he got really good coaching
there. They use to play against all the major schoolboy sides in Europe
there team came 5th in Europe in an under 12s tournament. It was an
amazing
experience for him and he won best goalkeeper of the tournament. That
was
one of the proudest moments of his life.

He was looked over though for the Irish schoolboy team for a while
because
of his height. The manger thought he was to small to be a goalkeeper
and
everyone referred to him as 'Nicky, he's a great little goalkeeper'
that
killed him and he got really angry. The entire Home Farm back four were
in
the Irish U15 but Nicky was left out because of his height. His manager
asked the Irish manager to give him a chance and he made his debut for
Ireland when he was 15, Which they won 4-0.

Things were looking up for Nicky and big professional clubs wanted him
to
try out for there team. But when Nicky was training with the Irish team
he
broke his elbow and that put him out for about 3 months. Once the elbow
had
healed he had offers from Newcastle, Everton and Leeds. Leeds had put
an
amazing deal on the table. So finally Nicky decided to quit school and
go to
Leeds. He promised that if things didn't work out that he would come
back
home and do his Leaving Certificate. His mam was behind him 100%, which
is
amazing when you think she is giving her sixteen year old son blessing
to
leave school

Before Nicky left he had a big going away party with some Karaoke. It
was a
very emotional time for him and he sang East 17 'Stay another day' and
Boyzone's 'Father and Son'. The night before he left was really hard
for him
and he cried for hours.

He was looked after brilliantly by Leeds and lived in a lovely big
house for
the first year. At the start of his first season he was selected for
the 1st team squad because of injuries to other players, he was only 16 and was
on
the bench for the 3rd Premiership game of the season against
Southampton.
Although he didn't get to play he thought it was the start of big
things.
But it didn't work out the way he had planned it. His performance went
down
when one of the guys coaching the youth team started to affect his
confidence. When he went back to Ireland for the summer he trained
really
hard and went back to Leeds to prove that guy wrong. He kept 13 clean
sheets
in the first 15 games and saved about 4 penalties. Then he didn't play
well
in just one game and that guy dropped him. So he hardly got anymore
games
after that.

Near to the end of the second year Nicky was told that they weren't
keeping
him anymore as he was only 5ft 10in. He only wanted big keepers, which
seemed really crazy as there was other keepers his heart who were
making the
premiership.

Nicky no longer had the heart for football anymore so he went back
home. He
was really dreading going back to Dublin as he thought everyone would
think
he was a failure but he had a chat with his mam and dad who told him
that
they were proud of him. So Nicky went back to school and finished his
Leaving Certificate.

When Nicky was in Leeds he had thought about going home and starting up
a
boy band but he knew that he needed Louis Walsh behind it and everyone
was
trying to get him so he could see himself wasting about 2 years. In
Dublin
he worked in a clothes shop called Alias Tom during the summer it was
hard
for him because most of his mates were all now professional
footballers.

He started up Karaoke nights when he bought a karaoke machine for
himself.
He did some gigs at parties and bars and stuff and also did nights with
his
dad called 'Father and Son'. It was great for him as he got the chance
to
fulfil his ambition and sing in public. Nicky's Idol was Ronan Keating.
He
use to love Boyzones songs and did some at his karaoke nights