What does it mean to be Irish?... Sonia O'Sullivan

Published: Wed 16 Mar 2022, 5:56 PM

During my athletic career I felt privileged to represent Ireland on tracks all over the world. It is a totally different feeling to running as an individual in a competition.

I always felt I was running for all Irish people, although now, looking back, maybe I could have realised more the role model I was for Irish women when I was at my peak.

To see so many women take part and compete across a myriad of different sporting disciplines today is a credit to Irish sporting bodies and the encouragement that Irish women get from Irish media and their sports bodies.

Wherever I went to the furthest corners of the earth, there was always at least one Irish flag in the stadium. I recall particularly at remote track meetings in India and Qatar seeing a few Irish flags in the packed stadiums.

You begin to realise there are more Irish people living outside Ireland and, when there is a reason to connect, they are the first in line. I still experience the Irish welcome wherever I go.

I remember one particular example, when I was running 5000 metres at the Melbourne athletics Grand Prix in 1995, taking place just a few weeks before the World Fire and Police games.

The Irish team in town to compete all came along to support me and filled a whole section in the stadium close to the finish line. It was a big surprise to me to have such colourful and vocal support just a few weeks after I had arrived in Australia for training and racing.

I am proud to be Irish. It is true that when you live abroad, you tend to emphasise the good things. For the people who live in Ireland, the view can be negative sometimes. And there has been negative news in recent years.

I was so impressed by and proud of the Equal Marriage campaign and the numbers of (mostly young) Irish who flew home to vote. They had learned about life abroad and were making sure that Ireland should change too. Ireland was the first country in the world who took this decision by popular vote.