Team Ireland boxers Gráinne Walsh, centre left, and Jennifer Lehane alongside Alan Swanton, right, and Sharon Madigan, second from left, with The President of Ireland Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina Coyne during the Team Ireland homecoming at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Offaly's Gráinne Walsh and Jordan Conroy among Irish Olympians honoured in Dublin

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The Team Ireland Olympians who competed at the Paris Olympic Games were officially recognised yesterday (Friday) at two separate events in Dublin.

Those in attendance for the ceremonies included Tullamore duo Gráinne Walsh and Jordan Conroy, who competed in boxing and rugby sevens respectively.

President Higgins welcomed the Team Ireland athletes who competed in Paris to his home at Áras an an Uachtarain in the Phoenix Park, congratulating them for their inspirational performances.

This was followed by an official reception organised by the Olympic Federation of Ireland in the Printworks building at Dublin Castle.

Team Ireland Rugby Sevens players, from left, Jordan Conroy, Mark Roche, with his son Cooper, aged 13 weeks old, and Sean Cribbin with An Taoiseach Simon Harris TD during the Team Ireland homecoming at the Dublin Castle Printworks. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

An Taoiseach, Simon Harris, and the First Minister of Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill, recognised the athletes' performances at the event that had almost seventy Paris Olympians present as well as their families and friends.

Before the Games, the number of athletes named by Ireland for the Olympic Games was 133, the final number of Olympians who competed for Team Ireland in the Paris Olympics rose to 136.

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, and Minister of State for Sport, Physical Education and the Gaeltacht, Thomas Byrne TD, also attended the reception, taking part in a gifting ceremony to acknowledge the dedication and achievements of the athletes and their support team.

At the event the performance staff and team behind the team, including the coaches, sports leadership, sports scientists, physiotherapists and medical professionals were recognised.

The media was also recognised at the event. Throughout the Games the media and rightsholders like RTE and BBCNI worked tirelessly to bring the games to life. RTE provided 14 hours of coverage daily.

Accredited journalists and photographers from all the major media agencies together produced over 20,000 articles about Team Ireland at the Olympics.

Over 1.4m people tuned into RTÉ to watch Kellie Harrington win her second Olympic Gold Medal, and almost a million people tuned in for Rhasidat Adeleke’s Women’s 400m Final, and the Final of the Women’s 4 x 400m Relay.

Paris 2024 was Team Ireland’s most successful Olympic Games, with seven medals won by six athletes across boxing, gymnastics, rowing and swimming.

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