"It still hasn't sunk in. I'm just over the moon that I've done what I've been trying to do since 2007 and it's a dream come true for me."
Yesterday, David Oliver Joyce became the latest Team Ireland boxer to book his place at this summer's Olympic Games as he beat home favourite Volkan Gokcek at the European Olympic qualifiers in Turkey in a box-off.
It will be his first Olympics after getting close on past occasions and as his achievement sinks in, the St Michael's Athy fighter joined Off The Ball to look ahead to Rio.
Joyce's grandmother recently passed away and she is close to his thoughts at present.
"She's not with me today but her spirit is with me. She would have liked to be here today, especially when I qualified but as I said, I dedicated that fight to her and it means the world to me, for my whole family. It's a big thing that I've qualified and it means the world to us," he said.
Joyce is revelling in making the step to go to the Olympics after previous close calls due to contentious decisions.
"Lots of my team-mates have qualified before and we'd arrive at the airport and I'd be sitting at the back of the queue. But today was my day. Thoughts came into my head yesterday when I was in that ring - are they going to steal it from me again. I had a few bad decisions and Beijing and I thought it was all going to happen again. When I had my hand raised, it meant the whole world to me," he said, also admitting that at one point he considered retiring after missing out on London 2012 and explaining how point-scoring changes have benefited him.
Plus, he revealed that the former head of Ireland's high performance unit, Billy Walsh rang to congratulate him yesterday.
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