The Irish Paralympics team arrived at the London 2012 athlete’s village on Friday from their final training camp in Portugal and have been settling in well over the weekend.
The 49 strong team look set to represent the country to the best of their ability and there is a quiet confidence that the three gold, five medal target set for them will be reached.
In the run up to the London 2012 Games Sport for Business is speaking spoken with individual corporate partners of Paralympics Ireland to get a sense of what motivated their involvement and how they have best been able to make it work.
Last week we looked at Renault, Allianz and Cadbury.  This week we will complete our round of the main sponsors with Vodafone, Topaz Energy and OCS Ireland.
First though we also spoke with Paralympics Ireland Partnership Manager, Patrick Haslett, who joined the team as part of a Vodafone sponsored initiative in 2010 and has played a key role alongside CEO Liam Harbison in delivering the right partners to support the athletes and the aims of the movement.
Sport for Business: How much of a growth in commercial partnerships have you seen for Paralympics Ireland since the Beijing Games?
Patrick Haslett, Paralympics Ireland Partnership Manager: The growth is evidenced by our portfolio of six top-tier sponsors and 12 in-kind product/service partners, engaged from May 2010 to March 2012.
This was in marked contrast to the valued but informal and in-kind support for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.
Was there a single key message that resonated with those partners who came on board?
Whilst the partners may have differing objectives underpinning their association with Paralympics Ireland, all identify with the core values of Paralympic sport; courage, determination, inspiration and equality. Irish Paralympic athletes embody these through sport and outside the competitive arena.
The opportunity to support Irish athletes competing at London’s “Home Games” was a key selling point and created real excitement when we first engaged with current partners. This really was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to support such an extraordinary community.
How did you draw up your list of potential partners and how did you make your first contact?
The IPC and all National Paralympic Committees (including Paralympics Ireland) afford protection to Olympic TOP sponsors like Coca-Cola and McDonalds. We can move outside these sectors where we aren’t bound and our tier one relationships cover  the car, mobile communications, fuel, and business services sectors as well as Cadbury and Allianz with existing links to the London Games and the International Paralympic Council and were keen to explore an association in Ireland.
Along with top-tier sponsors, Renault and OCS, our official communications partner, Pembroke Communications were one of our first in-kind partners to come on board. This was a key move on our part, as they helped us develop our tiered sponsorship model.  Their input was recognised by their winning a national PR award earlier this year.
How great a value has the second tier of sponsors proven to be and what have they gained in your opinion from their involvement?
We identified at an early stage the key organisational requirements like kit, air travel, accommodation, logistics and others which could attract support from interested third parties. Companies like O’Neills, CityJet, Bewleys & Moran Hotel groups and DHL have all come on board in this way.
High-performance sport costs money and their support eases the pressure on our bottom line. From a credibility point of view, it’s been extremely beneficial to persuade such well-respected brands to come on board.  The growing network has inspired others to help.
In return, they are all entitled to activate and benefit from their association with Paralympic sport and some of the bigger entities have done so to a level consistent with the top-line sponsors. For our smaller in-kind partners, supporting the athletes has proved a new and exciting way to engage their employees and clients.
Additionally it is important to note the support we have received through the Irish Sports Council as part of core funding and high performance programmes.
Is there one lesson you have learnt through the preparations for London that you feel will be of benefit next time around?
The sponsorship model for Rio 2016 will be based around our sponsor and partner needs. Our understanding of their businesses is strengthening and we’ll strive to give them the greatest return possible from their objectives. We’re making progress but we’ll look to maximise the opportunities for business within the partner group itself, an area we believe there is great potential in.
Do you have a sense that most of the partnerships will extend into a broader relationship than just for the London Games?
We’d like to think that London 2012 will be the start of a new era for Paralympic sport. Unprecedented awareness and excitement has been created throughout the build-up to the Games and most of our partner group will visit the action at some point – all of this should bring them closer to the high-performance, Paralympic environment.
We’ve found that interaction with Paralympic athletes has been of particular benefit to partners and relationships created here, particularly through their respective ambassador athletes, have strengthened their associations. This obviously benefits our chances of extending these after London.
The Irish team at the London 2012 Paralympic Games will comprise of 49 athletes across 10 sports. Ireland’s current Paralympic stars include Jason Smyth, Michael McKillop, Mark Rohan, Colin Lynch, Catherine Walsh and Catherine O’Neill.  All will be aiming to add London gold to their world or Paralympic titles.
The overall team size will be boosted to around 95 by a highly dedicated and professional team of staff across a variety of roles including Chef de Mission, Performance Director, Team Managers, coaches, sport science/medical and personal care support. The goal is to achieve at least five medals, three of them Gold, and a top-30 placing in the final table.
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