Eurovision abuse was a daunting experience

Fresh from his successful appearance on RTÉ reality TV Show Fáilte Towers, Athlone man Joe McCaul has spoken for the first time of the level of abuse that he was subjected to following his and his sister Donna"s elimination from the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. 'I did receive problems afterwards definitely,' he says. 'For the first year or maybe a year and a half I got a lot of abuse from people who didn"t know me. I had friends who ended up in fights because of it. I had to stick up for myself a lot too of course. It was pretty rough sometimes.' Joe, however, was keen to point out that this abuse rarely, if ever, occurred in Athlone. 'Most of the time it was in towns outside of Athlone, over here people know me. 'But sometimes I"d be out in town and an outsider who was visiting Athlone would say, "Oh Jesus look, there"s that fella from Eurovision" and it would kick off from there. I was only 17 when I took part in the competition. I knew there might be problems when I got back alright but it was a bit much at times though.' But following his successful stint with Donna on Fáilte Towers, Joe is very much looking forward to a brighter future and is currently in the process of moving to Dublin where he will be involved in a number of projects in the coming months. 'The reception from Fáilte Towers has been great in fairness. I"ve been very busy since we left the show with interviews etc. I"m starting work promoting a new company in Dublin now so that will be great. 'I"m also going to be taking part in a new Christmas pantomime in the Helix in Dublin (Sleeping Beauty). The rehearsals are going to be really intense for it. It"s a full time job as it"s a big production but I"m really looking forward to it,' he adds.