Ministers extend best wishes to Ireland's Paralympic team

Archer Kerrie Leonard from Drumree heading for second games

Meath East TD and Minister of State for Sport, Physical Education and the Gaeltacht, Thomas Byrne, and his Department colleague, Catherine Martin, have extended best wishes to the members of Team Ireland at the start of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games,

Ireland has a 35-strong team at the Games in Paris, including archer Kerrie Leonard from Culmullen, Drumree. The athletes will be competing across nine sports. Ireland has competed at every Paralympic Games since the first in Rome in 1960.

This year marks the highest ever level of investment into High Performance Sport in Ireland, with €25m being provided. There has also been a substantial increase on the €59 million invested in the Tokyo cycle, with more than €89 million invested from 2021 to 2024, reflecting the government’s commitment to delivering long-term sustained progress in sport.

Minister Byrne said: “I have already had the privilege of meeting some of the 35 members of Team Ireland and I look forward to meeting more of them next week in Paris. To become a Paralympian and represent your country is an incredible achievement and I know that this is something that is greatly appreciated, by not only the athletes themselves, but also by the wider public.

"The members of Team Ireland competing at the Paralympic Games are already inspiring the next generation of athletes. I can assure the athletes that their efforts are greatly appreciated by the Government and we intend to continue our strong financial support for sport in Ireland, all the way from the grassroots to the high performance level. I greatly look forward to joining Team Ireland supporters, at home and across the world, in cheering on our athletes to success at the Paralympic Games.”

Minister Martin said: “The Paralympic Games are amongst the most prestigious and eagerly awaited sporting events worldwide. It is a tremendous achievement for any athlete to reach the standard required to compete against the best in the world at the Paris Games. Every single one of the 35 competitors that are travelling to Paris deserve enormous credit and recognition for their hard work and dedication in getting to the games. All those who have supported them on their journey to Paris deserve similar credit, be they family members or in a coaching capacity. I encourage Irish people everywhere to get behind the team over the next fortnight or so and show your support for them, whether that is in France or at home in Ireland. I am confident that they will deliver some memorable, outstanding performances over the coming weeks and I also look forward to meeting some of the athletes at the Games over the next few days.”

The Government and Sport Ireland states it provides a range of funding streams to Paralympics Ireland including High Performance Programme Funding, Direct Athlete Funding, Administration and Operations Funding, and Paralympic Games Support Funding.

Combined across all funding streams, Sport Ireland will have invested over €8m in Paralympics Ireland throughout the Paris Cycle 2021-2024, the Government says.

Kerrie Leonard

This is Kerrie Leonard's second appearance at a Paralympic Games. Kerrie took up archery seriously after meeting her coach, two-time Olympic archer Jim Conroy, also from Meath. She first competed for Ireland in 2012, took a break and returned to the sport in 2014. She finished ninth at the World Championships in 2015 and won silver at the 2016 European Championships when she came very close to qualifying for the Rio Paralympic Games.

With no European Championships possible for Tokyo it was amalgamated into a Paralympic Qualifier. At this competition she finished fifth in the World qualifier and sixth in the European Qualifier which earner her a bipartite slot for Tokyo. She finished ninth overall at the Tokyo Games.

Kerrie has a degree in equine business from NUI Maynooth and a masters in marketing from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. She is a wheelchair user since being paralysed from the waist down after a fall from a tractor in 1997 when she was six. From March to October she trains outdoors at home on a tarmac driveway, but she also has a simulator that she can use to train indoors. Kerrie is from a farming background and a safety advocate for farm safety.

Paris Schedule:

Day 1 – August 29th

W2 Ind Compound Open (ranking) 13:00 – 15:30

Day 2 – August 30th

W2 Ind Compound Open (last 16 elimination) 9:00 – 12:30

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