Ruairí Harkin is a footballer currently playing for Derry City in the League of Ireland

League of Ireland

The League of Ireland is the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. Founded in 1921, as a league of eight clubs, it has expanded over time into a two-tiered league of 22 clubs. It is currently split into the League of Ireland Premier Division and the League of Ireland...

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Youth career

Harkin began his career at a very young age with Don Boscos. Throughout his career with Don Bosco's, Harkin made several appearances for the Derry and District League Select in the Foyle Cup

Foyle Cup

The Foyle Cup is a youth soccer tournament held every year in Derry City. Along with the Milk Cup, which takes place around the same time, The Foyle Cup is one of Ireland and indeed Europe's premier youth tournaments.-History:...

 and also County Londonderry in the Milk Cup

Milk Cup

The Milk Cup is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area of Northern Ireland, with matches taking place in the towns of Portrush, Portstewart, Castlerock, Limavady, Coleraine, Ballymoney, Ballymena and...

. Having turned down opportunities to sign for a number of English clubs, such as Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

, in order to finish his GCSE exams at St. Columb's College, he eventually signed for Charlton Athletic

Charlton Athletic F.C.

Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

 in the summer of 2006.

Senior career

Harkin looked set to have a bright future in the game and his ability was praised by coaches. However, the young midfielder failed to play a senior game for the English team and instead languished in the reserves, before being loaned out to non-league outfit, Heybridge Swifts

Heybridge Swifts F.C.

Heybridge Swifts are a non-league football club based in Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex. They were established in 1880 and were founding members of the Essex Senior League in 1971...

. At the end of 2008, Harkin was released by Charlton and promptly snapped up by his hometown club, Derry City. Harkin was loaned out to Derry's rivals, Finn Harps at the beginning of the 2009 season.

International career

Having represented Northern Ireland at Under-16 level, the Derry-born Harkin was later called up to the Republic of Ireland Under-19 squad, where he was capped 4 times between 2006 and 2008.