Scully and Ferguson at Paralympics Ireland media launch
Ratoth swimmer James Scully and FAI Meath Regional Development Officier Barry Ferguson were both at Morton Stadium, Santry this morning when Paralympics Ireland announced their extensive media service plans for the Paralympic Games in Rio from Wednesday 7th to Sunday 18th September.
The news was announced at their hugely successful Media Experiential Day in Morton Stadium, Santry this morning James Scully was in big demand for interviews.
James won monthly awards in 2013 and 2014 at the Meath Sports Awards and has already achieved the qualifying time for Rio although the final selection will not be announced until early July.
Barry was on duty in Navan last week at the Meath Primary Schools finals at the MDL and is the manager of the Irish soccer team (seven-a-side) that has qualified as one of the eight contenders for glory later this year.
At the event, the National Paralympic Committee revealed an eight-strong team who will be providing daily updates via press releases and also across their website and social media channels.
John Fulham will lead the Paralympics Ireland media services team in Rio and he will bring his huge experience at Paralympics Games over the years to the role.
Sinead Naughton (Communications and Events Director, Paralympics Ireland) will manage the media service from Dublin.
They will be supported in Rio by Westmeath woman Mary McGuire (Media and Events Manager, Paralympics Ireland), Cliona Foley (sports journalist), Heather Boyle (Cycling Ireland) and Trish Mayon (Swim Ireland).
The announcement is another exciting step for Paralympics Ireland on the road to Rio 2016 and, with just 168 days to go until the Opening Ceremony, CEO Liam Harbison was delighted to unveil the support services for the media.
“We are delighted to be sending an experienced media team to Rio to bring the colour and dynamism of Paralympic Sport to every Irish home during the Paralympic Games. London 2012 demonstrated the huge appetite amongst the Irish public to follow and connect with Ireland’s Paralympians. It’s important to us as an organisation to satisfy that demand and provide the means to tell the inspirational story of Ireland’s Paralympic success,” he stated.
“We have many exciting things in the pipeline between now and Rio - most notable of these will be the announcement of Team Ireland on July 5th by Chef de Mission, Denis Toomey. He will lead a team of approximately 45 athletes to the Games who will represent their country across 10 different sports.”
The news comes just one month after Paralympics Ireland launched their much-anticipated awareness campaign, More Than Sport, which can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjm6j5x6bQE
Paralympics Ireland Official Partners 2016:
Allianz Ireland
Mondelez Ireland
OCS Group Ireland
Clayton Hotels
See next two editions of the Meath Chronicle for interviews with James Scully and Barry Ferguson.