Paralympics Ireland has named a 49 strong team to compete for Ireland in the London 2012 Paralympic Games commencing on August 29th.
The original target factored in the Ireland soccer team who missed out by one place on qualification so to achieve this size of team is a significant achievement in itself.
In addition five athletes who achieved the A standard of qualification cannot travel because of quotas on the number of participants each country can have in each event.
Paralympic sport has made enormous strides in recent years and it is a model blend of the passion needed to achieve in sport as well as a focus on numbers that means sponsors are drawn by the understanding of specific targets and specific deliverables.  That 18 commercial sponsors were on hand yesterday at the RDS to support the launch is testament to the work done.
The target set four years ago was to bring home five medals and for three to be gold.  The Irish team announced yesterday is on target, numbering no fewer than five reigning world champions as well as Michael McKillop and Jason Smyth as reigning Paralympic Games champions who are fit and in the form of their lives.
The team is made up of athletes representing 20 different counties and will compete across ten sports at the London Games.
““Very few people get the opportunity to represent their country at such a high level,” said Minister of State Michael Ring at the launch.  “It’s a tremendous honour and the athletes, their families and friends should be very proud. I have no doubt that our athletes will be great ambassadors for Ireland and for their respective sports.”
“The preparation, coordination and management of the Irish Team is a huge task,” added Paralympics Ireland CEO & Chef de Mission for the Irish Team, Liam Harbison.  “It would not have been possible without the continuing support of the Irish Sports Council, Sport NI and our sponsors and partners.  Their support has enabled us to prepare 49 athletes to compete and excel at the London2012 Paralympic Games. It’s time for us to make a return on the faith and investment placed in us by them all – we aim to deliver.”
Commenting on the Irish Paralympic Team’s performance goals at London2012, Paralympic Performance Director, Nancy Chillingworth, said, “The Irish Team aim to achieve great personal and collective success at the Games.  The performances of the athletes in the qualification phase demonstrate that the performance targets for the Irish team of five medals and fifteen finalists are realistic and achievable.  We’ve planned meticulously to ensure the correct environment is in place around each athlete at the Games to facilitate their optimum performance.”
The Irish Paralympic Team now head to Antrim for the first ever Paralympics Ireland training camp in Northern Ireland from June 28th – July 1st. They will attend the final Renault Ireland Team 2012 Training Camp in Limerick in August before heading to Portugal on August 16th for the ISC Pre-Games Holding Camp.  The team will then travel directly from Portugal to take their place in the Paralympic Village in London on the 24th August in advance of the opening ceremony on the 29th August.
Up to ten hours a day of Freeview TV coverage will be broadcast by Setanta Sports in a deal supported by Allianz.
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