When you look at bands like Take That, who have come back bigger than ever, you can see there will always be a market for good pop bands.

For me, it's never been about being famous. I just want to be a successful singer. I wanna work hard If I'm in the papers, grace, but I want to be there for the right reasons - for my music.

My mum and dad ran a family cafe in Sligo for 35 years and worked long hours. We grew up in a very hard-working family and had a lovely atmosphere, as we lived above the restaurant. It definitely made me want to work hard, whatever I chose to do. As the baby of seven kids, I was definitely a bit spoilt.

You only live once, so live a good life!

It's a big deal to bring your family on the road, you know? I'd love to do it sometime, but you have to work out schools and all that.

Capitol Records were very keen for me to write and see how I got on; I think that is what defined my sound. The first session I had was with two young up-and-coming writers, Nick Atkinson and Tom Wilding, and I went into a session a bit nervous because I hadn't written that many songs before.

If I'm honest, I thought Westlife would keep going for longer than it did - we all did - but it sort of came to a natural end. When we decided we were going to split, I thought, 'If I'm going to sing, I'm going to have to do it solo.' Also, financially I was broke, so the decision was ultimately made for me.