I was so focused on building a future for us that I missed, or maybe ignored, the signs that things were starting to fall apart. The relationship suddenly ended one afternoon over tae. That bus journey from Mayo back to Belfast following the split was the worst experience of my life. We remained good mates for the following year, but I was never able to fully accept the reality that what we had was never going to come back so I sabotaged relationships and opportunities in order to hold on.

I finally realised I had to let go and live a life not spent looking backwards.