“It’s In Our Makeup” – Kellie Harrington Hails Troy Parrott After Ireland Heroics
Olympic champion Kellie Harrington has paid powerful tribute to fellow inner-city Dubliner Troy Parrott following the striker’s heroic performance for Ireland.
Parrott almost single-handedly kept the country’s World Cup hopes alive, sending Ireland to the play-offs with five goals in two dramatic group stage games.
It was the coming-of-age week for a striker, who had to battle adversity en route to the hero status he was long since predicted to achieve. That ability to take setbacks in his stride to eventually seize his moment is something that Ireland’s only two-time Olympic gold medal-winning boxer says showcases the very traits that define their community.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with David McCullagh, Harrington—who grew up just streets away from Sheriff Street’s Parrott on Portland Row—said the AZ forward’s composure under pressure in scoring an injury-time winner against Hungary embodied the resilience forged in Dublin’s north inner city.
“What he has shown last night is discipline, character and resilience,” Harrington said of her former neighbour. “That’s everything that is of our makeup, coming from the inner city. It’s part of our culture and to hold out like that 30 seconds of the match and to be able to stay strong and finish it the way he did was the stuff of dreams.
“Resilience, you’re born in it, it becomes part of you and you learn how to cope under pressure and sit tight and wait for the right moments in life,” she said. “That carries through in sport and it was evident to see that last night.”
While the country has been lifted by Ireland’s dramatic win, Harrington believes the moment will carry an even deeper emotional weight for Parrott’s close-knit family.
“People from a family watching their son or grandson or brother, they know all the work that has gone in,” she said. “They know the injuries that Troy has had, the setbacks. To be able to watch him there and see him produce what he did, and shine, time after time, it’s phenomenal.
“They knew he was destined for great things but this was something special.”
