He turned down the chance to pull on a green jersey as a teenager, but Rio Ferdinand didn’t hesitate when the call came later in life from this side of the Irish Sea.
Ferdinand is at the home of Sligo Rovers with Kate, who he married in 2019, to promote a cross-border collaboration between his Rio Ferdinand Foundation and the International Fund for Ireland , which is aimed at bringing together young people from communities that have long been divided by sectarianism.
“I’ve been able to use football as a vessel to help with that, to help people from different sides talk and communicate, and show that there may be a way forward to have communication. “First of all they have gotten them together to do the sporting bit, and that has enabled them to transcend the barriers that would typically be between them,” says Harte, a native of Raphoe in County Donegal.
“I obviously grew up in England and I always felt English. I had played Under-17s for England, but I was still eligible, so that’s why they came to me. But I had no interest at the time.”
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: NewstalkFM - 🏆 19. / 55 Read more »
Source: stellarmagazine - 🏆 25. / 51 Read more »
Source: stellarmagazine - 🏆 25. / 51 Read more »
Source: stellarmagazine - 🏆 25. / 51 Read more »
Source: stellarmagazine - 🏆 25. / 51 Read more »
Source: IrishTimes - 🏆 3. / 98 Read more »