This much I know: Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh

I DON’T really miss working for RTÉ. My passion always was going to see the matches themselves, being at the scene of the action and the excitement.

I’d miss the cessation of that way of life alright, though.

Being a sports commentator was a dream job for me. I gave up teaching in 1980 and went into it full-time. I had great fun doing it Sunday after Sunday and did not look upon it as a job at all. And I am privileged to have got to know some great players along the way.

The best advice I ever got was to persevere at whatever it is that you are trying to achieve. I’ve seen players as young as 19 who were lucky enough to be on an All- Ireland winning team — and others who had to play for 12 years or more before they realised their dream. The thing is not to give in, and remember: nobody has won the next one yet.

I always tell young people not to become what other people want you to become — become what you want to be. When it comes to work, the trick is to find a job you like to do. Interest is key, otherwise it quickly becomes a chore and you are counting the years until retirement.

One of my worse traits is that I’m not a very organised person. I also try to fit a lot into each day.

I live in Meath now but get to Kerry as much as I can. Dingle is my favourite place in the world, a stone’s throw away from the sea, next parish: America.

Life has taught me that there is no point in looking back with regret. You can’t change the past. The only thing you can change is the immediate present and the future.

There is nothing like a recession to provoke thought. We were becoming an impersonal society. I do think the downturn in the economy has forced us to look inwards and has brought about a greater willingness in the average person to do something to help others. You don’t have to go very far to see someone in a worse state than yourself.

There are a couple of things I’d like to see — Irish society pulling together more so that we can achieve undreamt-of results. And Fermanagh winning an All-Ireland.

Having retired from RTÉ, I’ve more time to give to my other interests — besides the hospice, I’m also involved in Age Action, The Irish Heart Foundation and The Special Olympics — all doing wonderful work in the community.

The golf clubs are always in the back of the car. There’s nothing quite like playing on one of Ireland’s coastal courses, looking out on an open sea. And I get to the greyhounds as often as I can.

One of the best things that ever happened to the GAA was the 1984 centenary year. The wise people at the helm used the history and legacy of the GAA to inspire the future, setting targets for having running water and proper dressing rooms in clubs all around the country. Now, it’s staggering to see the superb facilities in every county — this is an example of community spirit in action.

I got involved with the hospice in Kerry through a very simple mechanism that is not used nearly enough in this country — by being asked. Some people will never push themselves forward to volunteer, yet the same people would be delighted to help if they were asked.

The hospices around the country do such great work that I’m delighted to help in any way I can. We’re a generous race, although people mightn’t be able to give on the same scale as before. I remember a hospice fundraiser in Dublin a few years ago where someone paid €20,000 for Padraig Harrington’s driver, not that they’d be able to use it like he did.

Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh recently retired from RTÉ after six decades as the ‘voice of Gaelic games’. He is a patron of Kerry Hospice and will be introducing An Taoiseach Enda Kenny at Forum 2011 on Wednesday, October 12, which focuses on a range of issues around death and dying.