SHANE FILAN

I didn't really like 'You Raise Me Up' at the time we recorded it; now it's my favourite Westlife song.

My kids are Irish; I want them to grow up playing Gaelic football and learning Irish.

I will definitely start in small venues, as I want to find my feet as a performer; the first shows that Westlife did was ten dates at Wembley, which was just crazy. We didn't have a clue what we were doing because it was so big.

I have three children to take care; I have a wife. My job is to take care of them, and I can say it's a pretty cool job to have.

When I had money, I felt pressure, whether it was to invest it or do good with it, and I couldn't let it fizzle out. It was like I needed to prove to myself that I could look after it, only I did the opposite, but you have to take a chance in life.

The adrenaline of performing on stage to a crowd - there's nothing like it.

You know One Direction do a lot of up tempo songs, but when they did that Ed Sheeran song 'Little Things,' that was probably their biggest song off their last album, so it shows you that a ballad never goes out of fashion.

When your child is looking up at you, and you are putting them to bed at night, and they are just lying there, you have to remind yourself that's what it's all about.

I'd like to keep singing - whether that's small or big. To stop singing for a living would break my heart.

I worry about putting food on the table, paying for my kids needs, their college fees in years to come. It's about earning enough to have a living to be able to look after your children.

Why me? Why did this happen? How could I be in Westlife and then have nothing to show for it financially at the end of it? But it's like, why not me? That's just life. It's tough. There's a lot more problems in the world. There are a lot of people who would wish to God they had my problem instead of having a sick child.

I'm more of a debit card person, and I live in the 'now'. I don't like credit cards anymore. I try to live with whatever I can afford and don't try to put myself in an awkward position. I've done that before.

I didn't want to be a solo Westlife - covers and ballads - and the reason I signed with Capitol Records was because they wanted me to write songs myself. It was pretty scary, but they put me in a studio in Nashville with some new songwriters, and the results were pretty good.

For me, it's never been about being famous. I just want to be a successful singer. I wanna work hard... If I'm in the papers, grace, but I want to be there for the right reasons - for my music.

When I finished Westlife, we had - Louie Walsh is still managing me - I was lucky to have options from different labels such as Sony and Universal. When we met Capitol and Nick Raphael, I just believed in them the most, and it looked like they believed in me the most.

After Westlife, I was in a scared place, you know; you've three children, and I worry about providing for them, and I had no guarantees going forward about the future.

The couple of years before I was declared bankrupt were the roughest. The bank letters, the pressure, the stress was awful. You're in this twilight zone of not knowing where your life is going, and yet you're in Westlife. Everything was great with the band. I was earning money, and it looked good.

I think that lyrically, 'Safe' is a very positive song: it's very strong; it's about keeping somebody safe and protecting people. I think everybody anywhere in the world can relate to it. I think everybody wants to feel safe; everybody wants to feel protected.

My mum and dad ran a family cafe in Sligo for 35 years and worked long hours. We grew up in a very hard-working family and had a lovely atmosphere, as we lived above the restaurant. It definitely made me want to work hard, whatever I chose to do. As the baby of seven kids, I was definitely a bit spoilt.

'Everything To Me' is about everything that's important. It's about my wife, my kids, it's about life, about being happy. It's about life in general, you know, about not knowing what's going to be around the corner, but you've got to enjoy it and enjoy the things you have. My wife, my kids, my health, and stuff like that.

I have worked long and hard to try to reduce my debts, and I am devastated that it came to this conclusion. I now intend to focus on the remaining dates of the Westlife tour and my commitments to the band before looking to rebuild a future for my wife, my three children and myself.

I put all my eggs in one basket and invested in property. I didn't do anything internationally - it was all in Ireland.

You're only as good as your last album.

Everybody, every tradesman that worked for Shafin or built my house got fully paid, well paid. Everybody got paid. I would like that to be said if I could because I haven't said it before, and it's important. People kind of think we left all these plumbers or electricians without getting paid.

I don't think about success to be famous, because I've done that at the highest level, but it's all about my children.