'Hero' John Joe deserves all the praise, says 1D star Niall Horan

Niall Horan from One Direction says that his "hero" John Joe Nevin deserves all the plaudits that he gets.The chart topper was one of John Joe's biggest supporters throughout the Olympics and spoke to him on an almost daily basis. When he heard that his friend was going to be given a much deserved homecoming party, the young singer, who performed at the closing ceremony of the Olympics on Sunday night last, made an unscheduled trip home to join in the fun. Niall even made a brief appearance on stage at the start of the homecoming telling the crowd of 6,000 well wishers that his pal had "worked his arse off" to secure an Olympic medal.Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner in Cusack Stadium on Monday, the singer said that John Joe's journey to the final of the bantamweight division had made his Olympics."I tried my best to try and get to every fight that I could. Some of the fights were during the day and I couldn't get to them but he was unreal. He was a massive ambassador for the country and a massive ambassador for Irish and he's a hero of mine."Niall wasn't the only Mullingar celebrity to get behind the boxer as he boxed his way to Olympic glory.Former Blizzards front man Niall Breslin attended Saturdays final with Horan. The night before Bressie was playing in Sligo and got the large crowd to sign a good luck message to John Joe, which he later posted on Twitter. According to reports, the two singers met up with John Joe in The Irish House after his final defeat to England's Luke Campbell.