Tony is a hero, say Kosovo children

THE children call out his first name when Tony De Loughrey drives into the village of Jadimi in Kosovo.

The former champion boxer who fought 37 times for Ireland and who is a 26-year veteran of the Irish army, is something of a local hero in the village after he made it his mission while serving here to bring some relief to the primitive conditions.

Members of the Ashkali ethnic group live here in conditions Tony describes as out of the dark ages. This is probably one of the poorest villages in the whole of Europe.