Aug 27, 2019
Media Release
Frank Greally was on hand to launch the 2019 Remembrance Run 5k– the unique and hugely popular Walk or Run event that takes place in the Phoenix Park on Sunday, November 10th.
This will be the eight annual Remembrance Run 5k which last year attracted a record number of over 5,000 entrants. It is an event with its own special atmosphere that includes Choirs, Music, Song, Commentary, and a Special Wall of Remembrance. Participants also receive a Special Souvenir Candle, as well as an event Goodie Bag.
Frank Greally, who in association with Athletics Ireland in 2012, founded the Remembrance Run 5k, said: “It was the passing of the legendary sports writer Con Houlihan that inspired me to set up this this special event in association with Athletics Ireland. Con was a dear friend and mentor and his columns on sport and literature in the Evening Press earned him a huge following over many years.
And it was Fr Brian D’Arcy who inspired me to write the Remembrance Run song when I heard him say at another great friend’s funeral, the late and famous RTE sports broadcaster, Jimmy Magee: ‘As long as Jimmy is remembered, he will never die.’ See a verse of the song.”
Remember in November
Remember me when in deep November
The days close in- the leaves are falling free
I hope you pause and smile when you remember
Then walk or run a few miles of the road with me
Among the many guests in attendance at today’s Remembrance Run launch was the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Paul McAuliffe.
The Lord Mayor said, “Remembrance Run is a really unique event, and offers us the chance to pause, and remember family and friends who have passed. I would encourage everyone to go along to the Phoenix Park on November 10th and experience the special atmosphere that only an event like this can create”.
Athletics Ireland CEO, Hamish Adams took part in the 2018 event and is already looking forward to what promises to be another great day in the Phoenix Park. He said, “Remembrance Run is an event that all of us in Athletics Ireland look forward to each year. It’s a day about remembering those that we’ve lost. We’re delighted that once again, we will have a special Wall of Remembrance erected at the race finish on Furze Road in the Phoenix Park. Every year, this wall is filled to capacity with signatures and messages, and there is something very special about people coming together to remember close family and friends in this special way.”
If you would like to share a special memory of a loved one or add some names to our online Remembrance Wall, you can do so by emailing: marybohanna@athleticsireland.ie .
Further information and updates relating to the event can be found at remembrancerun.ie .
Ends
Aug 27, 2019
The AIG Irish Open took place at Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club from July 29th – August 4th and proved to be a great success. Tennis Ireland were delighted with the attendance numbers during the week plus the singles finals (broadcast live on TG4) attracted double the TV audience share compared to 2018.
This reflected the quality of the entrants this year and the strong Irish performance in both the doubles and singles of the Men’s and Women’s Events – culminating with two Irish Winners.
The finals were played across the Saturday and Sunday; with the Doubles Final and Singles Semi-finals being played on the Saturday.
The spectators were treated to some excellent tennis all week with lots of local interest leading to the strong Irish presence at the business end of the tournament.
The weekend got off to a great start as Georgia Drummy powered her way to the Women’s Singles Final. The local audience were hoping for an all Irish affair as Anna Bowtell looked to join Georgia in the final as she pushed the Number One seed, Alice Robbe from France, all the way before losing in three tight sets.
Similarly, in the Men’s event, Irish Number One Simon Carr came very close to upsetting the Men’s number one seed, Igor Sijsling – who has a career high ranking of 52 on the ATP and who reached the final of the Australian Open in 2014 – before losing out in 3 long sets. The Number One seed went on to show his class in a very professional performance in the final, using his excellent serve and groundstrokes to hold off the number two seed, Ryan Peniston (GBR), 6/4 7/6.
In the Women’s Doubles, Georgia Drummy and Karolina Berankova (CZE) reached the final before losing to top seeds Karola Bejenaru (ROU) who is based in Ireland and competes for Ulster, and her partner Lisa Ponomar (GER). In the Men’s event, local player Julian Bradley went one step further with his partner and former college roommate Jack Findel-Hawkins (GBR), by winning the title 6/2, 7/5 over second seeds Ben Jones (GBR) and Joshua Paris (GBR).
Georgia’s disappointment however would soon prove to be short lived as the eagerly awaited ladies final saw Georgia face top seed, Alice Robbe (FRA).
Georgia showed tremendous character to overcome nerves and 6 break points in the first game before settling into the match. Georgia then very much got into her match rhythm and started to overpower the number one seed.
Much to the local crowd’s delight, Georgia hit a number of very impressive winners on her way to an emphatic straight sets victory 6/1 6/2 to cap off a Sijsling week of great tennis.
Aug 27, 2019
Women’s Pool C: Ireland 3 (Evans, Hawkshaw, Mullan) Russia 2 (Sadovaia, Leonova)
An early morning start for the Irish Women’s final match of the Euro Hockey Tournament in Antwerp saw them achieve a 3 – 2 victory over Russia to finish 5th place overall in the tournament on Sunday the 25th.
The Irish Women came agonisingly close to a first European Championships semi-final position after producing a 1-1 draw against Germany earlier in the tournament. Having put the world number 5 ranked team under serious pressure the squad have shown they are capable of mixing it with the top teams in the world.
With 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in the tournament, the Irish Women’s hockey team comfortably retain their top tier European status for 2021 and show that their new coaching set-up is starting to show results.
Speaking after the final match, Head Coach Sean Dancer said, “We always knew it was going to be a tough game and Russia are a good team; they certainly have some good players.
Last game of the tournament is always nice and tough. In the end, there are things we can do better, especially in the attacking circle and today we only forced one penalty corner so we probably weren’t as smart as we’ve been in the last few games, but real credit to the girls they kept fighting and were able to get the win 3 – 2.”
Europeans are considered one of the toughest continental championships to compete in for hockey, with many of the top ranked teams in the world situated in Europe. Winning the competition outright secures automatic Olympic qualification, however a competitive tournament equalling their best ever result at this level shows that Ireland are in good form as they look to build towards their direct Olympic qualifier in two months’ time.
Aug 27, 2019
The queries listed below are clarified in the Government’s overall website to the extent that they are in fact capable of being clarified at all in a situation which is quite fluid. Please note that the www.gov.ie website is the authoritative source of information and guidance on Brexit.
Please see below a list or digest of information on general queries relating to Brexit. “Getting Ireland Brexit Ready”, which contains a series of guidance notes and other website references for nearly all of the areas mentioned above:
• Getting Ireland Brexit Ready
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/a7ba02-brexit-info/
• Administration and Banking
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/52c5c4-administration-and-banking/
• Visas
https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa
• World Trade Organisation – VAT, Tax Customs
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tariffs_e/tariffs_e.htm
• Data Protection
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/bf5200-data-management/
• Brexit and Transport
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/a09c0f-brexit/
• Brexit useful contacts
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/7feff3-brexit-business-useful-contacts/
Aug 22, 2019
Press Release 21st August 2019
For immediate release
Supporting video available:
Youtube https://youtu.be/md1OSyCx_08
Original File https://we.tl/t-69Eu6NgzNQ
Special Olympics Ireland recognised as a Healthy Community
Special Olympics Ireland receives Healthy Communities Award
Today it has been announced that Special Olympics Ireland has been recognised as a Healthy Community. The Healthy Communities Recognition Award is the highest health distinction awarded by Special Olympics International, which acknowledges the continuous work Special Olympics Ireland has carried out towards improving accessibility of health information and services for people with intellectual disability.
Special Olympics Ireland supports the global vision to create a world where people with intellectual disabilities have the same opportunities and access to health care as people without intellectual disabilities.
“People with intellectual disabilities often experience poorer quality and reduced access to health services. From the Healthy Athlete programme research we know that on a team of 10 Special Olympics athletes, 4 will need glasses and 2 will have some sort of eye disease, 6 will be overweight or obese, 3 will fail a hearing test and 2 will have low bone density. Special Olympics Ireland has been working hard to improve accessibility of health information and services through our different health & wellbeing programmes, and we are delighted to receive this award in recognition of this work so far.” says Cáit Donnelly, Health & Wellbeing Coordinator, Special Olympics Ireland.
In 2018, 655 athletes were screened through the Healthy Athlete Programme at the Special Olympics Ireland Games in Dublin, where a total 1,375 screenings were conducted. Over 50% of athletes screened did not pass a hearing test, 20% had untreated tooth decay and 86% had flexibility concerns. Based on these results, Special Olympics Ireland continues its mission to improve the lives of people with an intellectual disability living in Ireland on and off the sports field.
“To be a great athlete you need to be a healthy athlete and so we at Special Olympics Ireland are committed to the health of our athletes, and we are honoured to receive the recognition for our work in this area.” said Matt English, Special Olympics CEO.
Special Olympics Healthy Communities initiative is made possible by the Golisano Foundation. Since 2012, Tom Golisano and the Golisano Foundation, have committed $37 million to the Special Olympics global health programme. The goal is to increase access to health, fitness and wellness programmes for people with intellectual disabilities. So far, the Healthy Communities initiative has been activated in 64 countries and has made significant advancements in increasing access to health, fitness and wellness programs for people with intellectual disabilities in the communities in which they live. Special Olympics Ireland is proud to be part of this movement.
Captions: Special Olympics athletes were on hand recently to receive the Healthy Communities Award on behalf of the organisation.
Back row: Edel Armstrong (athlete) Cáit Donnelly (Health & Wellbeing Coordinator Special Olympics Ireland) Patrick Monaghan (athlete) Margaret Turley (athlete) Bernadette Casey (athlete) Kieron Allen (athlete)
Front Row: Lynn Conroy (athlete), Una Hennessy (athlete), Paula Carroll (athlete)
About Special Olympics Ireland
Special Olympics Ireland provides sports training, competition and health & wellbeing opportunities to children and adults with an intellectual disability across Ireland.
There are currently 7,812 athletes training year round in our network of 313 clubs.
Special Olympics Ireland offers a number of Health & Wellbeing programmes, which include:
- Special Olympics Ireland Health Promotion Programme was developed provide user friendly material for people with an intellectual disability. The programme resources consist of a Health Toolkit for the Health Promotion Facilitators (who are volunteers) to deliver different health modules in this Special Olympics Club and an individual Athlete Pack for each athlete who takes part in the programme. The Health Promotion Programme materials have all been designed and developed by people with an intellectual disability specifically for people with an intellectual disability. The Athlete Pack encourages health protective behaviours so athletes feel supported to make healthy choices in everyday choices.
- The Healthy Athletes Programme provides free health screenings and education to Special Olympics athletes while changing the way health systems interact with people with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics Ireland currently offers 7 disciplines within in this programme:
- Health Promotion focuses on healthy living, healthy lifestyle choices around healthy eating, physical activity, smoking, sunscreen etc. Screenings for blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) are also available.
- Healthy Hearing provides hearing exams to athletes to detect ear or hearing problems, recommends follow-up care if needed, and advises about the necessity for regular ear and hearing exams.
- Special Smiles provides comprehensive free dental screening and shows athletes correct brushing and flossing techniques including accessible oral health care information.
- Opening Eyes is changing lives in communities across the globe, providing free eye assessments, prescription eyewear, sunglasses and sports goggles to people with intellectual disabilities.
- FunFitness tests athlete’s flexibility, strength, and balance and offers exercises to improve function in sports training & competition, and to prevent or reduce risk of injury.
- Fit Feet inspects athlete’s motion range and any deformations in their feet and ankles, as well as skin and nail consistency. Shoes and socks are also inspected to fit athletes. Athletes are also educated about choosing the right shoes as well as proper foot and nail care.
- Strong Minds aims to teach athletes exercises and provide resources to increase relaxation and stress management skills.
Interview opportunities available:
Please contact Pamela Kavanagh, Marketing and Communications Manager, Special Olympics Ireland on 085 802 2707 or email pamela.kavanagh@specialolympics.ie
Aug 20, 2019
For the first time the history of the Olympic Games, Ireland will have a Dressage team at Tokyo 2020 after the ‘Girls In Green’ secured Olympic qualification today (Tuesday) after a stunning performance at the Longines FEI European Championships which are taking place at Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The Irish team of Anna Merveldt, Judy Reynolds, Heike Holstein and Kate Dwyer (pictured), finished on a final score of 213.540, to finish second of the eight teams who had been chasing one of the three tickets to Tokyo that were on offer at the final Olympic qualifier for European teams.
Ireland were just outside the Olympic qualifying places when Kildare’s Judy Reynolds entered the arena as last to go with her horse Vancouver K. Under huge pressure, Reynolds delivered a stunning performance to set a new Irish record of 76.351 which guaranteed Ireland a team place at the Olympic Games for the first time ever.
Full report and reaction to follow.
For interviews with Irish riders contact HSI press Officer Brain Hennessy 087 6120717
