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It has been an extremely busy summer of sport in Paris and what better way to kick off the return to school and work by prolonging the feeling and celebrating Irish Paralympic achievements together with the local Franco-Irish business community!
So that’s what we did on Thursday September 05th in the beautiful Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris’ fifth arrondissement. NetworkIrlande Pioneer Member Options Technology kindly sponsored the evening which was held in conjunction with Paralympics Ireland and Sport Ireland.
The rain held off and so our reception took place outside, stepping inside for speeches and some paralympic watching. H.E. Ambassador Niall Burgess opened the evening and welcomed everyone to the event which was a timely bookend of 18 months of sport in France, starting with Paralympics Ireland President Eimear Breathnach addressing the NetworkIrlande community at the Embassy in December 2022. At that time Eimear announced a countdown of 619 days to the arrival of the Irish paralympic athletes to Paris!
Lisa Clancy, Vice President of Paralympics Ireland, then spoke on behalf of the delegation and the athletes, bringing us all into the experiences of the past days and weeks and highlighting the importance of networks and the warmth of the Irish community in general. Dr. Una May, CEO of Sport Ireland, then addressed the group and spoke of the challenges Paralympians face on a daily basis in a city such as Paris and the many fond memories she will take back to Ireland of the Rugby, Olympics and Paralympic experiences with the Irish community in France. We were delighted to have Paralympics Ireland board member John Bolger, and former Paralympian and Sport Ireland board member Deirdre Mongan among the group.
Everyone then joined in the excitement to watch double-Paralympic medallist Róisín Ní Ríain compete in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke final, and tension was high as she came in fourth in her race. Afterwards it was networking and chatting in the courtyard over refreshments to round out a full and enjoyable evening. Many thanks again to the Centre Culturel Irlandais for hosting us and to Options Technology for sponsoring the evening.
The rain held off and so our reception took place outside, stepping inside for speeches and some paralympic watching. H.E. Ambassador Niall Burgess opened the evening and welcomed everyone to the event which was a timely bookend of 18 months of sport in France, starting with Paralympics Ireland President Eimear Breathnach addressing the NetworkIrlande community at the Embassy in December 2022. At that time Eimear announced a countdown of 619 days to the arrival of the Irish paralympic athletes to Paris!
Lisa Clancy, Vice President of Paralympics Ireland, then spoke on behalf of the delegation and the athletes, bringing us all into the experiences of the past days and weeks and highlighting the importance of networks and the warmth of the Irish community in general. Dr. Una May, CEO of Sport Ireland, then addressed the group and spoke of the challenges Paralympians face on a daily basis in a city such as Paris and the many fond memories she will take back to Ireland of the Rugby, Olympics and Paralympic experiences with the Irish community in France. We were delighted to have Paralympics Ireland board member John Bolger, and former Paralympian and Sport Ireland board member Deirdre Mongan among the group.
Everyone then joined in the excitement to watch double-Paralympic medallist Róisín Ní Ríain compete in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke final, and tension was high as she came in fourth in her race. Afterwards it was networking and chatting in the courtyard over refreshments to round out a full and enjoyable evening. Many thanks again to the Centre Culturel Irlandais for hosting us and to Options Technology for sponsoring the evening.
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