Timmy Long was speaking on International Recovery Day today which aims to raise awareness of addiction and the resources that are available to help anyone struggling with addiction.
A number of iconic buildings in Cork including the Shakey Bridge, City Hall and County Hall will be lit up in purple to promote recovery.
Timmy first used alcohol and drugs when he was around 10 years old and now owns his own property maintenance company that employs people in recovery.
Speaking to RedFM News, Timmy explains the idea behind hiring people who have had the same experiences as him:
To bring lads in that have struggles with alcohol addiction but who are in active recovery at the moment. So what we do really is just, if someone's struggling in any given day, at least they know that they can have a chat with me or any of the lads that work with me. We'll all in recovery, we'll all trying to better ourselves, we'll all trying to grow spiritually, we're all trying to love on to the next level in our own lives through education and maybe through getting a trade or whatever it may be."
