SHANE

OT: I see that you’re all into playing golf now…

SHANE: Yeah. We’ve all sort of gotten into it over the last while. It’s great crack.

OT: Do you bet with each other?

SHANE: Ehhh, the odd time. Never anything major though. It might be a tenner a hole. It’s more fun than anything else. We just have a laugh and slag each other.

OT: Does Louis play?

SHANE: No, he just drives the buggy!

OT: Do you get many celebrity guests at your shows?

SHANE: I dunno. I never really pay too much attention to it. We get footballers, actors, singers and other bands and stuff. It’s usually in Wembley that it happens. I suppose the London gigs are easier for everyone to come down to. But we don’t generally hear much about it. Whoever is there is there, kind of thing. I’m not that impressed by celebrities anyway.

OT: Was it a big deal for you to meet the Pope?

SHANE: That was probably one of the biggest things that’s ever happened in my life. I was sweating! My Mum and Dad are very religious and they got to meet the Pope as well. I think it was the best thing I could have ever done for them. No present could ever out-do it. It’s a brilliant photo for the front room as well!

OT: What was the story about you in the Sligo car registration office last year? Didn’t they keep asking you to come back with different ID’s?

SHANE: I can’t remember how many times they asked me to come back. It was a bit of a nightmare, to be honest. Ah, it was just a bit silly. I needed to show loads of proof of who I was and where I was from and they still wouldn’t give me the thing. Obviously they knew who I was – that was the annoying thing. It was just a parking permit for parking outside my house and they just dragged it through for the whole day, and it was in the papers the next day. I don’t know what it was about. It was just an annoyance really. And of all places to get that, in Sligo, you know?

OT: Would that put you off playing in Sligo?

SHANE: Not at all. That was just daft and nothing like that has happened since. Sligo is where I’m from and I love the place. It’s definite now that we’ll be playing Markievich Park. Obviously, three of the band are from there so it will be a nice place to finish the tour up.

OT: You’re buying a house in London at the moment. Would you consider doing MTV Cribs?

SHANE: I’m not really into all that, to be honest. It’s not my style. I’ve seen the show though. It’s quite cool – some lovely houses. But I’d say some of the houses are just rented out for the day. But in America in general, it’s much more about the cribs and the cars and the million dollars and the chains and whatever else.

OT: You’ve got a fair few cars yourself, by all accounts…

SHANE: Yeah, I’ve got a few different cars. I’ve got a Ferrari 550. Three of us got them. I love cars but not in a show-off way. You know, I was buying car magazines all my life and checking out the new models. I never dreamed I’d have my own Ferrari though. But that’s not why I’m in this game. You hear loads of stuff about how bands live – smashing up hotel rooms, wasting money on private jets or whatever. Most of the time it’s a load of shite. It’s usually probably the managers of the bands that are creating hype about them.

OT: What are you in it for?

SHANE: I just love singing. I’ve always wanted to sing. Obviously, we’re very successful now, so we’re making a very good living at it. But at the start, we wanted to be famous more than rich. But now fame is the thing I like least about it.

OT: What do you think about bands like Ash who say you’ve no credibility?

SHANE: To be honest with you now, I couldn’t give a shite about Ash. I’m not going to slate them because I don’t really know their music that well. I’ve heard one of their songs and I actually thought it was quite good. But bands like that are always going to slag us because we’re a pop band.

OT: But didn’t they turn back on that again and say you were actually good lads?

SHANE: Ach, they always turn around but then they slag us again. Like if Ash have a problem with us, then fair enough – but it’s their problem. We’re not going to worry about it. We’re here playing Wembley tonight, so I don’t care. The bands that slate us are usually the bands that aren’t doing as well as us. Like U2 are a serious credible rock band and they’ve never slagged us. And they’re a band that could easily slag us and laugh at us, but they never do. They actually compliment us.

OT: How much longer do you think Westlife will last?

SHANE: It’s hard to say. Probably when everybody stops enjoying it. But that’s not going to happen just yet. The way we look at it is, we’re gonna make the next album and if that does well, we’ll probably make another album. It depends on how we feel and what age we are at the time. At the moment, though, we’re more together as a band than we’ve ever been. We’ve all made a few quid, we have our houses and all that sort of stuff. It’s not like we’re dreaming for things anymore, but I’d like to be able to enjoy it for a few more years. After that, it’s hard to know.