Jason Black’s Team Ireland has conquered the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest.

After being forced to abandon their first attempt at summiting the world’s highest peak on Tuesday approximately 400 metres from the top, the team recuperated and opted to make a second summit push.

Letterkenny mountaineer Black had earlier confirmed he had failed to shake off an ankle injury to lead his team to the top of the world and would instead conduct operations from Camp 4, from which the team set off on their summit push.

Black’s Team Ireland includes Eanna McGowan from Dublin; Adam Sweeney, a Waterford man, and Padraig O’Hora, the former Mayo Gaelic footballer, joined by Milan Sherpa, Pemba Sherpa and Nang Tenji Sherpa.

From Camp 4, Black waited attentively for the news to come through on the team’s second push for the summit.

“Absolutely amazing, amazing, amazing!,” he said on confirmation. “After 20 years, an Irish man is back on the summit of Mount Everest, and Adam Rooney, the youngest person ever to stand on the summit of Mount Everest [aged 22]. Absolutely unbelievable. Success, success, success, absolutely!.”

In May 2006, a team of Irish climbers conquered Mount Everest despite severe weather conditions on the Northeast Ridge. Fergal Corrigan, Neil Elliot, and Raymond Hassard successfully summited together on May 17, followed by experienced mountaineer Noel Hanna on May 21.

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“This is for the families,” Black added. “This is for the climbers. This is for the incredible Sherpas. This is for everybody who’s followed along on this trip and got behind everybody in this journey. And it’s an example that if you dream big, believe in yourself, and never be afraid to chase what’s in your heart, you can achieve anything in this world. Absolutely anything in this world.

“Today, I am so, so proud of those lads up there, and I’m so, so proud of what they’ve done. So proud of Ireland. And now it’s time to get our boys back, guys. Uh, they’re on the way back down. They’re not safe, they’ve got to get back home. But that’s it. That’s it! At a time when our world feels broken by war and hatred, today reminds us that there is still unity, hope and peace.”

“What a day to be Irish. We hope we have done Ireland proud. Absolutely brilliant. That’s it, guys. Enjoy the celebrations. We’ve got to get the boys home. Take care, God bless, bye-bye. Thanks everybody for all the well wishes, for all the support. Take care.”

Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth above sea level, reaching a height of 8,848.86 metres (29,031.7 feet) and is located in the Himalayas on the international border between Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

The team’s first attempt was undone because a frozen rope made things treacherous, so the decision was made to return to Camp 4.

“Unfortunately, at 8,450 metres, they encountered a difficult situation with the ropes being buried in the snow and frozen overnight,” Black said on Tuesday. “So, the Sherpa team worked extremely hard to try to remove the ropes and to break trail, but to no avail.

“And the right decision was made in the early hours of the morning to return to Camp 4 for safety. I can report now that the team are safely back in Camp 4 and is doing okay. They are now resting. And we are hearing now working to get more oxygen and resupplies to them in Camp 4, with the possible option of going for another summit push tonight.

“I will get back to the members shortly to see how Adam, Eanna, and Pádraig are feeling physically and emotionally and what the next steps will be. But to everybody back home and around the world that’s been following with great pride, just to report that the lads gave it their all, got as far as the balcony at 8,450 meters and just due to circumstances beyond their control, they’ve had to turn back and are safely now back in Camp 4.

“They are exhausted, as you can imagine, but are now safe. And in the next few hours, we’ll make a decision on what the next steps are going to be.”

Black is a professional mountaineer who first summitted Mount Everest in May 2013. Of his own attempts to reach the summit, he said: “I have picked up a pretty severe ankle injury, enough of an injury not to allow me to continue. “I don’t have it when I’m walking in my normal boots, but the minute I put the crampons on, it changes the angle of my ankle and, for whatever reason, whatever ligament problem I’ve picked up, it’s not allowing me to continue safely.”

He was the first person from Donegal to reach the peak and famously unfurled a Donegal flag at the summit. He then reached the 8,611m summit of K2 in 2018, becoming only the second Irishman ever to do so, following on from Limerick’s Ger McDonnell, who tragically died on the descent.

The South Route Expedition Black’s team is following the historic path of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay – the same route that first conquered Everest in 1953.

Before this week, Everest has been climbed 84 times by 65 Irish climbers (nine women and 56 men) since the first Irish success in 1993. The first Irish climber to reach the summit of Everest was Dawson Stelfox from Antrim, followed by Pat Falvey two years later.