Troy and Kellie, just two of the gems from the diamond mine of inner-city Dublin

Pair shine light on an area that's often ignored but always proud

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IMAGINE it as the nation's diamond mine, a too-often neglected corner of Dublin from which Troy Parrott, the Sheriff Street solitaire, is just the latest to emerge and dazzle, his brilliance lifting Ireland's mood to a sparkle as vivid as any rhinestone.

abundant seam that stretches across the north inner city, yielded boxing's crown jewel, combat sport's Cullinan Diamond, Kellie Harrington.

Twice the empress of a roped Olympic rectangle, Kellie brought a joy and pride to her community as coruscating as the bejewelled tiara the ancient Egyptians placed on the head of Cleopatra.

A Caoimhín Kelleher punt, similar to the one that was so vital in facilitating Troy's third, playoff clinching, Budapest sword-thrust, would cover the tiny acreage between the family homes of Parrott and Harrington.

At the height of its flight, the arcing ball would cross above the address where the talisman of Euro 2016, Wes Hoolahan, first dreamed of football stardom.

If a tailwind caught Kelleher's kick, it might carry as far as Dorset Street, where the story began for Ger Brennan, Dublin's new manager and one of the lead authors in the 2011 All-Ireland win that did so much to transform the city's sense of itself. Now look closer, zoom in on the Dublin 1 postcode that has proven such a fertile field for harvesting sporting greatness, and the miracle becomes apparent.

Walk along Sheriff Street, Oriel Street, Seville Place, down North Strand, up arrow straight Portland Row, across Summerhill and Ballybough and Mountjoy Square, and the terrible havoc wreaked by addiction and absence of opportunity is a constant.