He's gone from the bright lights of a soccer career with Roy Keane to the searing lights of a hospital sterilising department, but one-time goalkeeping sensation Shane Supple insists life hasn't slipped through his fingers.

The 23-year-old Dublin man said he made the right move nearly a year and a half ago, trading in his Ipswich Town jersey for a Gaelic football shirt at home.

Since then he has returned to school to complete his Leaving Cert, played in the Dublin football county final with his club St Brigid's and is even planning a future in the gardaí.

"I have no regrets about anything," he told the Sunday Tribune, in spite of having given up a lucrative profession in the midst of global financial chaos. And yet he has vowed never to return to professional soccer.

"I am not going to say it hasn't ever crossed my mind, but ideally I wouldn't want to do that," he said.

"I don't think it would be fair on the club. I am really enjoying the Gaelic at the moment. I am back with St Brigid's and I really don't want to go back down that road."

The former Republic of Ireland under-21 keeper stunned Ipswich Town manager Roy Keane in August of last year when he told him he had simply fallen out of love with soccer.

"I wouldn't say I miss any of the managers I had over there. They were all different in their own ways, but Roy was fantastic with the way he dealt with my situation," Supple said.

"I learned a lot from him and he is a very tough man as everyone knows.

"He was shocked like everyone else. I kept it well hidden for a long time and I don't think he expected it.

"He sat down with me for a few minutes and spoke about a few things.

"I told him it had gone too far for him to change my mind. He said he wished me the best and said if he could be of any help in the future, to get in touch."

Since coming home, Supple has taken a job in the Mater Private Hospital – a far cry from the glamorous life of professional footballers but a move in keeping with his grounded mentality.

Articulate and reflective, Supple understands the value of work and of education. He returned to school to complete his Leaving Certificate with the help of grinds and former teachers.

"I got everything I wanted to get for what I want to do in the future, but it's tough enough.

"I have always said I wouldn't mind joining the police but I will have to see. There's not much going on in that area at the moment," he said in reference to the recruitment freeze.

Financial incentives certainly don't seem to motivate Supple, who described inflated Premier League wages as "an absolute joke" and is only moved by GAA and nostalgic memories of a childhood playing between the posts.

"I missed the Gaelic set-up," he said. "You can't beat it with your mates when you were growing up, and I could never get that with the soccer."