Joe Bollard - Musician

My wife Sarah and I came to Bray in 1964. We had a flat on Putland Road for a while, then we got a house on Wolfe Tone Square. There was a force 24 gale on the day we moved and people were almost building arks in the back of their houses! Wolfe Tone Square was supposed to be temporary, but we've been here for the past 30 years. I was working for a band and was all over the place. Then I came back from a US trip when my son was two years old and he didn't know me. So I decided to give up the band and got a job in the Silver Tassie pub. The three lads grew up in Bray. They went to Presentation College and all got good jobs. Two are living in Greystones now and one son is three doors down from us. Now they're grown, I've more time to do all the things I've wanted to do. On 15th October, I'm cycling coast-to-coast in America for the National Council for the Blind: 3,000 miles from San Diego to Charleston, South Carolina.

We're in training now. I'm getting tremendous support from the Royal Hotel leisure centre, run by Stephanie.

Sometimes I walk down the town with Becky, my guide dog, and someone says "well done, you did it all by yourself". I do these things because I want to do them, not to prove anything because I'm blind. I'd have done worse things if I could see.

People who see are put off or turned on by visuals. A person's character and makeup are more important. Bray people know if I'm stuck, I'll ask for help.

Bray people are very good-humoured and there's always a joke. Some comments you hear on the DART or walking the dog on the seafront are unbelievably funny. There's a whole dynasty in Bray and different accents from the bottom end of town to the top. I'm going to hang up my bike and let my tyres down when I get back from America. I always stand up for my town wherever I go. People introduce me as "Joe Bollard from Bray". It's not heaven, but it's the nearest thing to it."