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Remarks at reception in recognition of the Irish Paralympic Team’s achievements

Áras an Uachtaráin, 22nd October 2013

Dia dhíbh, a cháirde go léir, agus céad míle fáilte rómhaibh go léir chuig Áras an Uachtaráin inniu.

Sabina and I are delighted to welcome you all here today to Áras an Uachtaráin to honour our most successful Irish Paralympic Team ever.

The London 2012 Paralympic Games were an outstanding success. It was the biggest ever Games, with over 4,000 Paralympic athletes, from 164 countries participating in 21 sports in sold-out events. Any athlete that represents their country at this standard is among the best in the world.

Participation in the Paralympic Games is also a recognition of something even greater than that; an acknowledgement of the special qualities that mark out those who are not only very gifted, but people of courage, of determination, of perseverance in the face of challenges, difficulties, and frequent setbacks.

The road to the Games is a challenging one and qualifying to participate and to represent your country internationally is in itself a great achievement. All of our competitors here have travelled down that long and difficult road. All of them know that success does not happen easily or overnight; that natural talent must be harnessed to huge dedication and constant hard work if the finishing line is to be successfully reached.

All of our Para-Olympians are citizens we can be very proud of; citizens who have the important qualities that our country so badly needs at this current time as we seek to rebuild our confidence and our international image.

I thank you all and commend you for your dedication and hard work, you are important role models for budding athletes everywhere, and for those who endeavour to make a difference in their respective fields; you have shown them through your courage, what can be achieved with tenacity.

The 16 medals won by Team Ireland at the London Paralympic Games is an extraordinary achievement far exceeding the targets that were set beforehand. To win 16 medals and come 19th on the medal table out of 164 countries and 4th in the world based on per capita is remarkable. That this medal tally includes three double gold medallists, triple and double medal winners and numerous world records show that our Paralympians are at the top of their sports on the world stage.

I would like to give special mention to our sixteen medalists. Firstly our three double gold medalists – Michael McKillop, Jason Smyth and Mark Rohan. To win two gold medals at the one Games is a remarkable achievement and that Michael, Jason and Mark each did so in such an emphatic fashion proves that they are three of the leading athletes in the world. I would also like to congratulate Michael on receiving the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award from the International Paralympic Committee for his efforts in schools and the wider community to encourage participation. I hope that the remarkable performances of our Irish Paralympians will encourage more people with disabilities to get involved in sport and inspire a new generation of elite athletes to succeed on the world stage.

The gold medal winning performances of two of the younger members of Team Ireland – Bethany Firth and Darragh McDonald – were inspiring. Bethany set the ball rolling on day two of the Games which I am sure provided great encouragement to the rest of the team. Darragh added gold to his silver medal from Beijing four years ago with a commanding performance.

It is hard to believe that this was Helen Kearney’s first Paralympic Games winning three medals on ‘Mister Cool’ and she is part of an extremely strong Irish equestrian team along with her medal winning team mates Eilish Byrne, James Dwyer and Geraldine Savage.

To our most successful Irish cycling team ever – double medal winners Catherine Walsh and Fran Meehan and bronze medallists James Brown and Damien Shaw, who along with Mark Rohan, made history in winning Ireland’s first ever cycling medals at either the Olympic or Paralympic Games.

And our field medal winning athletes in the Discus – Silver medal winner, Catherine O’Neill, one of our most experienced field event athletes, who has worked tirelessly to promote disability sport in her local community. And Orla Barry who built on her fifth place finish in Beijing with a superb bronze medal.

The team came close to achieving more medals with a number of fourth and fifth place finishes and the number of personal bests achieved by so many Irish athletes shows the strength of Irish Paralympic sport. Each one of the 49 athletes of Team Ireland performed magnificently across ten sports and we witnessed some outstanding performances.

I would like to congratulate all at Paralympics Ireland – Chief Executive, Liam Harbison; President, James Gradwell; and Performance Director, Nancy Chillingworth – on the marvellous work they have done in bringing Irish Paralympic sport to a new level. It is also very heartening to see so many commercial sponsors supporting Paralympics Ireland in the last few years to build the high performance programme for existing athletes and the talent identification programme for new athletes.

I also commend here the families and friends who have supported our athletes through long days and nights of practice and preliminary competitions. We all know that the achievement of greatness reflects the work and sacrifice of many and I acknowledge and thank all those who supported our athletes in this great accomplishment.

To all our 49 athletes – I salute you on a magnificent performance. I thank you for the excitement and joy we have shared with you and I wish you every success and happiness as you all move on to new challenges and new competitions.

Mar chríoch, ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leo siúd uile a chuidigh
leis an imeacht seo, go háirithe an lucht garchabhrach agus an fhoireann
anseo ag an Áras a d’oibrigh chomh dian sin le go n-éireodh le cúrsaí an lae
inniu.

[Finally I would like to thank all those who have helped with this event,
especially the first-aiders and the staff here at the Áras who have all worked
so hard to make today a success.]

Once again, congratulations to all our Olympians gathered here today.
Sabina and I hope you have a great afternoon.

Comhghairdeachas libh go léir arís. Go raibh maith agaibh.