Former Ireland rugby captain Willie Anderson said he'd love to see a day when a handful of players from a Protestant background are lining out to play GAA for Derry.
Anderson, who comes from a Unionist background, sent his son Thomas - who played rugby for Connacht, Ulster and the Ireland U20s - to play Gaelic football for St Patrick's in the Loup when he was 11.
"We're all apart and then we go to university and we're all together," Anderson told The BBC's The GAA Social podcast.
"That's why I ensured that when my son was 11, he went and played Gaelic with the Loup. He said, 'Why am I going to play Gaelic?' I said 'Someday you'll know'.
"He played until he was 18. There was one night he went to The Elk (restaurant). The next morning he says, 'Dad, I know now why you told me to play Gaelic football. Last night, I could have got home with the Gaelic boys and I could have got home with the rugby boys'.
"I said, 'Was there any difference?' He says, 'No, there wasn't'. I said, 'Well, there you go. That's what sport is, and even more importantly, that's what life is'.
"There was people who would not have been happy that my son played for the Loup. They certainly never said it to me because I would have told them where to go."
7 December 2002; The Leinster coach Matt Williams, right, and his assistant Willie Anderson celebrate the victory over Montferrand. Heineken Cup Rugby, Montferrand v Leinster, Clermot Ferrand, France. Picture credit; Damien Eagers / SPORTSFILE *EDI*
Anderson, who won 27 caps for Ireland, played Gaelic football for the Loup and has also coached the sport.
"The year before last, I [coached rugby with] a group of kids down at the Rainey School," he said.
"I think there was about seven or eight of them. There were four Protestants, four Catholics. They all played rugby and on a Sunday, they all went down to O'Donovan Rossa and played Gaelic. I just that was fantastic.
"When I taught in the Rainey back in the 80s, and we got to semi-finals, there were seven Protestants and seven Catholics on the team. There were guys who played both sides.
"That group of kids, I said 'It's a pity we couldn't do that all of the time' because give me 15 wee good Gaelic footballers and I'll have a rugby team in two weeks. They are fantastic.
"If Gaelic is going to change, then education has to change. We have to be inclusive. We have to have Gaelic in schools. We have to have rugby in schools.
23 February 2007; Ian Keatley, left, celebrates with team-mate Thomas Anderson after the final whistle against England. Under 20 Six Nations Rugby Championship, Ireland v England, Dubarry Park, Athlone, Co. Westmeath. Picture Credit: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE
"There's no doubt in my mind that [Oisin McConville], Peter Canavan, Anthony Tohill all could have played rugby for Ireland - without a shadow of a doubt.
"Even further than that, they could have been British and Irish Lions. Canavan would have walked on. You consider him at out-half or scrum-half - jeepers creepers. You take somebody that's 6' 5" like Anthony Tohill...
"In ways, I'm looking at those guys and I'm saying, 'I had the opportunity to play a bit of Gaelic and I'd love to have the opportunity to have played it and got the skills earlier on in my life'."
Asked what the GAA could do to make their sports more inclusive for people a Protestant Unionist background, Anderson said: "It didn't bother me about the anthems or flags but I know it would bother a lot of other people."
He added: "I'd love to see six or seven guys from a Protestant [background] playing on that Derry team. That's when we'll know that we have real inclusivity in Gaelic football."
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