PARALYMPICS Olympic Boxing heroes greet Irish Paralympic team on their arrival in Beijing

As their Olympic counterparts prepare to depart for home the Irish Paralympic team touched down in Beijing this morning, and transferred to their holding camp at the Loong Palace Hotel on the outskirts of the city ahead of the opening ceremony in the Bird's Nest Stadium on September 6th.

Little did the tired Irish team know what was to greet them as they arrived to their planned welcome reception in the hotel. Ireland's heroic Olympic boxing team; Kenny Egan, Paddy Barnes, Darren Sutherland, John Joe Joyce and John Joe Nevin, along with their coach Billy Walsh made the journey to the Paralympic team's base to surprise them on arrival. The Irish Paralympic team was ecstatic and greeted Ireland's Olympic heroes with a rapturous standing ovation.

Olympic silver medalist Kenny Egan told the team: "I'm so proud to represent my country and to do so and win an Olympic medal is everything to me after the years of hard work. You all can now go on and perform for Ireland and be successful. The village is fantastic, the Chinese people were so friendly, but most notable was the Irish support for the team when any of us were competing."


Bronze medalist Darren Sutherland added: "It's about the ultimate performance. Bring it right back to the simplest things; yes it's the Olympics, but it's the same as any tournament, my boots and pads were the same as was the size of the ring. We've proved it can be done with a solid team behind us; you can all push on for medals too. We certainly wish you all the very best of luck".


Ireland's third medalist Belfast's Paddy Barnes added: "It's been absolutely brilliant. If I can win a medal, anyone can win a medal!"


John Joe Joyce spoke to the team about the importance of their work on mental strength: "I didn't believe in myself in Chicago that I could beat these boys and lost by 17 points there. By doing a lot of psychological work, I came here believing in myself and turned it round to beat the same guy by 5 points. If you believe you can be successful, you will be successful."


After more words of support and encouragement from John Joe Nevin Ireland's magnificent boxing coach Billy Walsh addressed the team: "These are a great bunch of lads who have given it everything over the last number of years. I'm delighted with the performance but am disappointed with yesterday. It's not everyday you get the chance to fight for a medal and I'm gutted for Kenny as he fought a great fight and in my mind.....well..." Walsh trailed off emotionally.

Irish Paralympic athlete Derek Malone tried to articulate what this night meant to the team: "What a boost to the team at the start of our camp. It was great to meet the boxers in the flesh after following their exploits over the last two weeks. Their comments certainly struck a chord with the team, and fired us up for what lies ahead in the village and for the Games. What a way to start the camp!"


Paralympic Performance Director Liam Harbison summed up the impact of the visit: "To have Ireland's Olympic Boxers visit us on our camp on day one has had an amazing motivational effect on whole team. The rapturous reception and standing ovation given to the boxers when they entered the room made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck; a special moment. I think it's given the boxers a taste of what's to come when they head home tomorrow."


"The boxing team; led by Gary Keegan and Billy Walsh, have shown that with a proper system in place and a plan focused on performance at a major Games, a small country like ours can achieve rich success. To have the team visit us in camp so soon after their events and assist us motivate and prepare our team reflects the great cross-sport support that exists in Irish sport. I feel we have executed an equally solid plan for the Paralympic Team. Hopefully we can have an equally positive outcome", he concluded.

For Further Information contact the press officers to the Irish team:
Sinéad McElroy, smcelroy@irishsportscouncil.ie 087-6338512
John Fulham, communications@pcireland.ie 087-2709182