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Former Donegal manager Jim McGuinness reveals loss of brother motivated him to success

Jim McGuinness was interviewed on RTE's Late Late Show
Jim McGuinness was interviewed on RTE's Late Late Show Jim McGuinness was interviewed on RTE's Late Late Show

FORMER Donegal manager Jim McGuinness has told how the sudden death of his teenage brother inspired him to make it as a county footballer.

The 42-year-old, who led Donegal to All-Ireland victory, took over as manager in 2010.

The father-of-five, who has also worked as a performance consultant with Celtic, has now revealed how the loss of two of his brothers changed his life and motivated him on the road to success.

Speaking on The Late, Late Show, where he was promoting his new book, `Until Victory Always', the popular sportsman told how he was only 12-years-old when his brother, Charles, who was 16, died suddenly at home.

Describing growing up in The Glenties, Co Donegal as "carefree", he revealed how the death of Charles - who died in the middle of the night in a shared bedroom from a unknown heart condition - had turned life "upside down".

"It was just a shout really and from that moment it was just panic trying to see what we could do and get people there as quickly as possible to sort it out," he said.

"It was a moment in your life where you are going along and your life is going along in a certain direction and then just all of a sudden you're jilted in a different direction. He was somebody who I felt was really, really cool and really looked up to and he was really was a beautiful looking boy."

Describing Charles as a "great footballer", Jim said his death hit him like "a sledgehammer".

"You're never the same person again and that's being honest," he said.

"All of a sudden, your life just changes and you're weak and you're vulnerable and there's this sense of free fall and trying to make sense of it".

The former Donegal manager, who stepped down from the post in 2014, said after hearing one of his brother's friends talk about how Charles was "a cert for the county minors", he was inspired to try and do it in his memory.

"From that moment on, that's how I started living my life," he said.

After spending countless hours training, he was called up to the Donegal Minors in 1990 and believes Charles was "very, very close to me". Two years later, the former GAA manager was part of the county's All-Ireland winning team.

However, his life was struck by tragedy again in 1998, after Donegal lost the Ulster Final.

After receiving an invitation to play football in New York, Mr McGuinness, who was 25, was getting a lift to the airport by his older brother, Mark when their car was hit by a lorry.

"We were flung, really like a match box up the road and spun so many times and the car came to a shudder and a stop and very quickly you realised that we were in a very, very difficult situation," he said.

The sports star revealed how his spent the time with his brother, in his dying moments.

"All I could do was hold his hand and look into his eyes and told him that I loved him over and over and over," he said.

"We were best friends. He looked after me. We were very open with each other. It was 10 years before I realised or accepted that it happened."