There are so many people I could thank for making this story a possibility: I’m afraid if I start listing them all individually, I’ll forget someone. So I’ll simply say that I’m thankful to every single person who has played a part in this journey. I think you all know who you are by now. Special thanks to Conor McGregor, who took the time to write the foreword for this book. I’d also like to thank Paul Dollery for investing his time and expertise in helping me to put this story into words, as well as Tommy Lakes and Dolly Clew for contributing their photography. Finally, I need to extend a special thank you to my beautiful soon-to-be-wife Orlagh Hunter, who has the unenviable task of putting up with my obsessive mind every day.
To my wife and best friend Sinéad, without whom I wouldn’t have been able to balance the biggest professional and personal commitments of my life; to my colleagues at The42.ie, especially Adrian Russell, whose patience, support and encouragement made my involvement in this book possible; to Niall Kelly, Fintan O’Toole and Jackie Cahill for their advice; to Artem Lobov, Cathal Pendred and Conor McGregor for their contributions; to Orlagh Hunter for filling in the gaps in John’s memory; to Brendan Barrington, Michael McLoughlin and the team at Penguin for imparting their knowledge, experience and guidance; to Ciarán Medlar for his assistance; and to John Kavanagh for giving me the honour of telling his inspirational story … Thank you all.