Although he has spent the significant portion of his life elsewhere,the former Champion Jockey Richard Dunwoody has no qualms when it comes to declaring his nationality.
"I'm Irish," he stated without any hesitation on Off The Ball's Friday Night Racing. "I've always grown up that way, I've got an Irish passport and it's never been a big thing for me.
"If anyone asks where I'm from, I'm from Ireland. It's never been a big thing as far as I'm concerned."
Yet, having been born in Belfast during the 1960s, Dunwoody's youth, his family's stay in Northern Ireland and any questions surrounding where he considers himself a citizen of primarily, all came under scrutiny with the outbreak of the Troubles.
"It was getting really hard for my dad crossing the border all the time with the horses," he explained of his father's job as a trainer in Northern Ireland at the time. "He'd be late back at night too.
"My mum actually goes on about it a lot, but I remember too when we were driving back one night and we came over a hill and could see Newry below us.
"It just looked as if it was totally ablaze. I think that was one of the things that contributed to us moving."
29 July 1999; Richard Dunwoody on Quinze celebrates winning the Guinness Galway Hurdle at the Galway Races. Picture credit; Matt Browne/SPORTSFILE.When the deteriorating health of Dunwoody's maternal grandparents in England became apparent around this time, the simplest decision for all involved was to depart the north and head for England.
"We moved over in 1972," he recalled, "and my father managed a stud then in Gloucestershire.
"Then we moved on to Newmarket and that was it really, I was able to start riding out at 11, 12 and the obsession grew from there."
You can watch back Richard Dunwoody's interview in its entirety here.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
