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Two men who grew up on opposite sides of "The Troubles" and brought Protestant and Catholic children in Northern Ireland together Two men who grew up on opposite sides of "The Troubles" and brought Protestant and Catholic children in Northern Ireland together to play basketball received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at The 2007 ESPYs, which aired on Sunday, July 15. Trevor Ringland, a Protestant rugby star who played for Ireland in the 1980s, and Dave Cullen, a Catholic who grew up using basketball to escape from the realities of war, were honored along with the biggest names in sports at ESPN's annual awards show. "This year the Arthur Ashe Award honors two men who refused to listen to those who taught them to hate and instead are courageously teaching hope and quietly working to unite a nation," said Maura Mandt, executive producer of The 2007 ESPYs. "Trevor and Dave have seized an opportunity to help children realize that their 'enemy' has a face that is just like their own. " Both honorees saw firsthand what hate can do. Dave Cullen's father was killed during the Troubles, and he watched the police ransack his home on a daily basis and threaten his mother. Trevor Ringland saw the world from the other side. The son and grandson of policemen, he saw his father check under his car each day to make sure there wasn't a bomb, and knew that each time his parents said goodbye in the morning could have been their last time. "We are trying to build a future that is different from past," said Trevor Ringland, a senior partner at Macaulay and Ritchie law firm and a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. "The goal is to not keep children separate. PeacePlayers successfully brought people together. Parents allowed it to happen." "There's still a lot of hurt. We have had a tremendous cycle of conflict for the past 30-40 years," continued Ringland, an active member of the Ulster Unionist Party. "There's still a lot of sectarianism even in the very young. Breaking down the barriers is grinding work." "Politicians are sitting together, but that doesn't suddenly change people. They don't suddenly like each other," said Dave Cullen, an administrator at Queens University in Belfast. "The Peace process can break down again. Memories are long and there is a lot of hurt. Our motto is if we can teach them to play together, they can learn to live together."