A Co Tyrone woman who appeared on RTE’s Tommy Tiernan show to speak about her search for her birth mother in Sri Lanka and her work to highlight diversity issues has been widely praised.
Sheree Atcheson was adopted from Sri Lanka at just three weeks old by a Coalisland couple, and that is where she grew up and went to school locally until she left for university at 18.
In an interview with Belfast Live, Sheree previously revealed details of racial bullying she received when growing up and going to school in Co Tyrone.
READ MORE: Samuel McAuley: PSNI name man who died after being hit by a bus in Belfast
Now she works as a diversity champion for some of the biggest companies in the world, having previously had a successful career as a software engineer.
Sheree appeared on the primetime show on Saturday night with the Irish comedian, who had recently faced criticism after an RTE star walked out of one of his show’s following a controversial gag.
She opened up about her experience on returning to Sri Lanka to search for her birth mother, who had to give her up for adoption as she was born out of wedlock and didn’t have the means to look after Sheree.
“Where I grew up my family was not wealthy in Ireland, my family were working class,” Sheree says.
“I grew up on free school meals, so thinks weren’t easy but there’s that access to opportunity that I had, that I would not have had had I been in Sri Lanka.
“That has afforded me to take a lot of the steps that I’ve taken now. I speak at conferences all over the world, I speak at Nobel peace conferences, I write for Forbes. I do all of these phenomenal things that people from Coalisland don’t tend to do.”
Social media users responded to Sheree’s story with positive comments, although she did take to Twitter after the show to address some negative comments she had received.
One Coalisland native tweeted: “As a Coalisland boy I know our town has received some real bad press down the years, some of it deserved, some not, but it’s heartening to see one of our own doing so well and making a difference. A little positivity goes a long way, well done Sheree.”
“Up there with the greatest guests ever on the show,” another person said. “An incredible story and what Sheree has achieved is extraordinary.”
The full interview with Sheree can be viewed on the RTE Player now.
READ NEXT:
Renewed calls to end violence against women at Lurgan rally for Natalie McNally
PSNI budget cuts will mean ability to tackle crime "reduced and slowed", chief says
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
