![\"Connacht](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/00248a57-614.jpg\"\/)
\nAthletes will compete as members of regional teams in Dublin this weekend<\/p>\n
Hundreds of athletes from around the country are making their way to Dublin for the start of the Special Olympics Summer Games.<\/p>\n
The opening ceremony for the event will take place later today at Tallaght Stadium before competitions in 12 sports get under way tomorrow.<\/p>\n
It is the first time in eight years that the national games have been staged, after the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted plans to hold the last scheduled event in 2022.<\/p>\n
Athletes from every corner of the country will take part in the competitions, which take place at ten venues across the capital, between tomorrow and Sunday.<\/p>\n
Members of the Connacht Special Olympics team departed from Ceannt Station in Galway this morning.<\/p>\n
Rhythmic gymnastics coach, Patricia Creaven, said it was hard to put into words how significant the coming days would be for all those involved.<\/p>\n
“It’s atmospheric, it\u2019s euphoric, it\u2019s amazing to see the love and the support for all the athletes from their coaches and parents and families,” she said.<\/p>\n
“This is the latest stage on a four-year cycle, just like the mainstream Olympics, where we have area games in year one, regional games in year two, national games in year three and then, if any of us are lucky enough, we\u2019ll have the world games next year in Santiago, Chile,” she added.<\/p>\n
\nAthletes will compete as members of regional teams in Dublin this weekend<\/p>\n
As supporters gathered on the station platform to see off the competitors, some of those getting ready for the sporting action spoke of their pride in taking part and their hopes of securing silverware at the games.<\/p>\n
Swimmer Michelle Larkin said she loved the sport and was hugely excited about the coming days. “I\u2019ll miss my family but they\u2019ll come up to Dublin to see me and hopefully I\u2019ll do well and come home with a medal,” she said.<\/p>\n
Fergal O\u2019Connor will compete in the soccer competition and got some last-minute training in, before boarding the train, as he demonstrated some of his goalkeeping techniques. “I\u2019ve worked hard and we\u2019re hoping for a medal – first, second or third,” he stated.<\/p>\n
Chloe Lewis Loughnane from the Galway Tribes Basketball Club said her excitement was mixed with a little bit of nervousness but that she was looking forward to competing and seeing the culmination of years of training.<\/p>\n
Geraldine Hannon\u2019s daughter Maria will compete in the gymnastics events. Geraldine feels the games are a fitting reward for the dedication and commitment that athletes and their families put in – week in, week out.<\/p>\n
“This is what they\u2019ve all been working towards and planning for, so it\u2019s great to see them all on the train, having the craic and getting ready for what will be a wonderful weekend.”<\/p>\n
More than 1,200 competitors will participate, with thousands of volunteers assisting the events over the coming days.<\/p>\n
Those involved compete as members of regional teams, with Connacht, Leinster, Munster, Ulster and a separate Eastern grouping involved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of athletes from around the country are making their way to Dublin for the start of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-506131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}