Peter Keegan

Fitness trainer/bodyguard

THE HUMAN CANVAS People do react. I definitely feel I have been turned down for jobs I was qualified for, because of the tats

If it wasn’t for my job, and if Irish people were less judgmental, I’d get tattoos right down to my fingers. I’d like to go up a bit from my neck too, get my throat done, but my girlfriend’s not having that. She says, ‘If you’re struggling to get the job you want now, what’ll it be like if you get that done?’ She’s thinking sensibly, and she’s the boss, so that’s that.

I have two full sleeves — both religious art — and half my chest done. I’m getting the other half done. The tattoos aren’t really for religious reasons, it’s more about the art. I do go to Mass once a week, but that’s for my family. I don’t have any colour in my tattoos, they’re all black and white, like ancient drawings, although I might eventually get a bit of red into them somewhere.

I used to be a semi-professional footballer. I played in America when I was 21, on a soccer scholarship in Buffalo. I came home and played for Waterford for a year, then, in the season final, I did my cruciate ligament in and I was out for eight months. I kind of lost interest in that time, and since then I have just played amateur.

At the moment, I do security for the FAI — VIP security for the Irish team. We wear suits and stand where the presidents are, the Uefa officials. You can’t go round with tattoos all over you, so they go to my wrist and no further. Once I’m wearing a suit, no one would ever know.

People do react. I definitely feel I have been turned down for jobs I was qualified for, because of the tats.