“That was an environment that I was raised in.”
Former Irish rugby international Andrew Trimble has admitted that he didn’t identify as Catholic or Protestant growing up in Northern Ireland because he genuinely didn’t know himself.
Speaking to Dion Fanning on this week’s Ireland Unfiltered, Trimble, the co-host of Baz and Andrew’s House of Rugby, says his ambivalence towards his religion was a product of the environment in which he was raised.
“I remember whenever I was a youngster – I say youngster, I was maybe 10, 11, 12 – and someone asked me if I was a Catholic or a Protestant, and I said I didn’t know because I genuinely didn’t know,” Trimble said.
“And that’s something, that was an environment that I was raised in, and I really appreciate that because I was sheltered from it, from any kind of political, religious chat, and I had a naivety that I’m really thankful I had.”
Trimble adopted a similar attitude when it came to his national identity and says that he doesn’t feel the need, nor has he ever felt it, to identify as British or Irish.
“You (Dion Fanning) asked me the question, ‘British or Irish?’ and I said ‘both’; some people would say it’s dodging the question but, you know, I don’t…” Trimble said.
“It never mattered, I never really cared. And I know in (Brian) O’Driscoll’s documentary, Shoulder to Shoulder, he was astounded, you know, about a couple of guys he met who said they support Ireland, they’re British, they’re Northern Irish, you know, they’re everything.
“And I think Brian was kind of making the point that you can’t have everything, but I like to think we can.”
You can watch the interview in full below.
Ireland Unfiltered, brought to you in partnership with Carlsberg Unfiltered, will be available everywhere you get your podcasts and on YouTube every Tuesday.
