Neil Walsh, an Irish security expert narrated how a near-death experience in his childhood inspired him to work at the USA's Federal Bureau of Investigations in Nairobi.
Speaking to an Irish national daily newspaper titled Irish Examiner, the now prominent enforcer recounted how he survived a bomb attack despite being so close to the scene of an explosion during his teen years.
“In my early teens, I was close to a car-bomb explosion in Belfast’s High Street when the IRA targeted a police car," he recounted.
"I saw death in the streets. Indiscriminate, pointless, stupid terrorists causing immeasurable harm. So I decided I wanted to do something about it."
Inspired by his aspiration to solve high-risk criminal and terror activities, Walsh joined the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) in the United Kingdom to initiate him into the enforcement world.
Later, he joined the FBI- a stint in which he helped to unravel high-profile crime sagas including the famous September 11 attacks in New York.
He stated that injustices meted at people in his hometown of Belfast, Ireland gave him the determination to combat terrorism.
Throughout his experience, Walsh amassed immense knowledge ranging from collecting and analysing intelligence, covertly and tracking "the world’s most challenging drug, weapon and people traffickers."
He would later be deployed in the Middle East at an era when the region was faced with a string of security threats.
After his journey around the world, his mission landed him in Nairobi working with the FBI's regional office and mandated to help 13 countries to counter organised crime, terrorism and corruption.
“I’ve been based in Nairobi, Kenya, since December 2021 and am ambassador – regional representative in our parlance – to Eastern Africa," he narrated.
“My role now is political – working to support the 13 countries I cover to counter organised crime, terrorism and corruption."
