Government reception for Ireland’s Paralympic athletes

I want to welcome you all to Farmleigh for this special reception honouring our Paralympians, their coaches, officials, families and supporters. And I also want to welcome you especially to my own constituency of Dublin West where we are now.

I really want to congratulate Team Ireland for your stunning performance at the London Games. You have been wonderful ambassadors for Ireland and we are very proud of you all. Ireland’s 19th place position on the medal table is an enormous achievement coming ahead of similar sized countries like New Zealand and Norway, as well as larger countries like Canada.

In my mind, London 2012 was the Paralympic Games in which Paralympic sport went mainstream. Millions of people attended the games. Millions more tuned in at home. Sponsors came on board and for the first time that I can remember, our athletes became household names.

It was a great pleasure to be able to represent the Government at the opening ceremony, to visit the Paralympic village and to see some of our athletes in competition. I witnessed the great team spirit among our competitors, and I witnessed first-hand how you supported one another and how each victory spurred the rest of the team on to more success.

The Irish High Performance Programme for Paralympic athletes has been a real success and Paralympics Ireland has done a wonderful job in developing sport. I also want to thank the 18 partners for their support and in particular all those people working in the background to make it possible: coaches, officials, athletes, families and others.

I am very pleased that the Government was able to provide increased financial and practical sport to Paralympic Sport through the Irish Sports Council. It was not easy in these difficult times, but it was worth it. You exceeded all targets and exceeded all expectations. Governments don’t win medals, and money does not secure any athlete’s qualification for the Games. Only an athlete’s ability, dedication and talent can do that. But the Government can help. We are were happy to do so and we will continue to do so.

Finally, I want to thank you all once again for the excitement, the joy and thrilling events which topped off a wonderful summer of sport. Enjoy the evening and thank you again.