It's not unusual to see a GAA star on Ryan Tubridy's couch shortly after winning an All-Ireland title; and so Dublin footballer Michael Darragh MacAuley was a guest on the Late Late Show last night. But he wasn't appearing to merely talk about his side's momentous five-in-a-row last September.
The seven-time All-Ireland winner was appearing on the show to discuss his experiences as an ambassador for Concern. The midfielder travelled to the Middle East recently with the charity organisation and explained that, despite his unprecedented success of the field, the trip was "one of the best opportunities that's ever been afforded" to him.
"Concern work in the world's poorest places, the poorest of the poor places," explained MacAuley. "And most recently we took a trip over to Iraq to work with the Syrian refugees.
"I'm not trying to sell you anything I'm just trying to raise awareness"
Michael Darragh MacAuley on his role as ambassador with @Concern.
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"The word 'Syrian' is nearly being dehumanised at the moment - people have been hearing it for ten years now and they're not, I don't think, reacting to it at all."
Over the course of the interview, the 33-year-old delved into his trip in more detail and spoke of meeting a Yazidi family who had been forced into exile.
The family that we worked with spent the last five years in captivity from a well-known terrorist organisation.
These are 10- and 15-year-old boys who grew up like that...their father has been missing for five years, they have one meal a day, they were sleeping in one blanket in the harshest of winters.
I don't have a book, I don't have a podcast, I'm not trying to sell you anything. I'm just trying to raise awareness as to what's going on over there.
Meanwhile, MacAuley also admitted that he was in the dark, like the rest of his Dublin teammates, regarding who will be succeeding Jim Gavin as Dublin manager. However, he did add: "It's an end of an era, there's no point in hiding from it."
