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Alistair made my goals feel more achievable. I remember him competing for Great Britain when he was 15, and he came back with his GB kit. I thought, 'Wow, I want a part of that.' Sportsmen can seem distant, like superheroes. Seeing my brother achieve that made me think I could, too.

It was great being brought up in a Glasgow working-class tenement. It wasn't miserable, and it wasn't poverty stricken. It felt very safe, full of delights.

Now here I am playing a passionate young Irishman who would die for what he believes in.

I started to watch 'Play for Today' and plays like 'Cathy Come Home,' and Kenneth Branagh's 'Billy' trilogy in the 1980s, which took us into the world of the Belfast family. As a kid in Luton, how was I ever going to know that world otherwise?

I had great faith in Irish actors, that they'd be hip to the whole theatre thing, and they are. I had no illusions of coming over here as some kind of big shot. It's been a learning experience for me too.

When I appeared in 'Coronation Street,' I lived in Manchester and enjoyed it very much.

When I left 'Coronation Street,' I wondered if I could ever be lucky enough to work with such a unanimously wonderful company of good people - and I've just come to that good bunch again.

The Irish job was something that had to be sorted out.

Well, playing a guy who writes songs and busks on Grafton Street in Dublin and falls in love with Marketa Irglova wasn't very difficult for me. There was very little acting going on.