Leitrim hurler Zak Moradi was praised by many for his 'brilliant' interview on RTE's The Late Late Show.
Moradi stopped by to chat with host Ryan Tubridy about his new book 'Life begins in Leitrim.' In an engaging chat, Moradi spoke about his life in Kurdistan as a child, the difficulties he faced, and how he fell in love with Ireland when he moved to Leitrim as a child.
Speaking about his Kurdish background, Moradi said, "We've lost a couple of million Kurdish people in the last hundred years since Iraq was created along with Turkey and them countries. We were left without a country.
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"Persecution, genocide, anti-cleansing, even to this day villages are getting bombed."
Eventually, Moradi and his family were granted permission to leave his homeland. Ireland was the destination, and Moradi quickly felt at home in his new country.
"Coming to Ireland, it was different, like coming to Heaven," said Moradi, "Everything was just so green and beautiful. And life just began in Leitrim."
There were plenty of laughs in the chat between Tubridy and the Leitrim star. Tubridy clearly loved the chat and seemed to particularly enjoy the story of when Moradi and his family drank "bottles of Bulmers and Budweiser" on the way home from the supermarket-But had no idea it was alcohol they were consuming.
Victory in the Lory Meagher cup for Leitrim was another talking point and Moradi spoke about the extensive celebrations following the win, as well as his immense pride at winning the cup.
The interview went down a storm, with many taking to social media to praise the hurler.
"What a EXCELLENT interview on Late Late Show with Zak Moradi the hurler from Kurdistan. I will always remember that Great point he scored to Win Leitrim the Lory Meagher Cup a few years ago. A WONDERFUL story of Refugees coming here & making a positive contribution to our society," said one person.
While another user posted, "What a great interview Zak! I'd listen to you all night!"
One man said, "Ah, Zak Moradi, you legend. Beautiful interview."
Another user commented on the interview saying "Zak Moradi is one cool dude."
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