About John Haughey (0)
- 16 Jul 07, 12:50 PM
I work for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Northern Ireland as an internet sports journalist and given that we have a small team, I cover a wide variety of sports although my particular strengths in knowledge-terms would probably be Gaelic Games and Athletics - although others may beg to differ.
I've also enjoyed dipping my toe into the Rugby Union world since I joined the ´óÏó´«Ã½ in Belfast.
After university, I did a variety of jobs, including an interesting year TEFL teaching in Greece before returning to Ireland to study journalism for two years in Dublin.
At the end of my Masters at Dublin City University in June 1993, I was sent on a two-month placement at the Irish News in Belfast and I was fortunate enough to be kept on.
I was appointed as deputy sports editor in 1997 and then got the sport editor's job a year later.
Highlights during my Irish News stint were covering the World Athletics Championships in Athens and Seville in 1997 which mixed work and vacations.
I was a passionate Manchester United fan from the age of 9 until about five years ago and Alex Ferguson's refusal to allow Roy Keane to rejoin the Republic of Ireland squad during the early days of Brian Kerr's reign led to me severing all links with the Red Devils.
In terms of my own participation, Golf is my main sporting love. I was a six handicapper in my youth and it is a source of immense frustration that my game has deteriorated markedly over the last 20 years even though according to the Golfing Union of Ireland I still play off seven - university, work and the yips did for me.
John Haughey is a journalist at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport in Belfast.
