Ireland competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Funding Some international support for participation fell through at the last minute, resulting in severe cut back to the 2016 Summer Paralympics. This was in part a result of only 220,000 of the 2.5 million tickets to watch the Games in Rio being sold a month ahead of the Games. The Irish Paralympic Committee's CEO Liam Harbison told the Wall Street Journal that these cuts could have a catastrophic consequence for Paralympic athletes.
Medallists
| width="78%" align="left" valign="top" |
Medal Name Sport Event Date Jason Smyth AthleticsMen's 100m T13 Michael McKillop AthleticsMen's 1500m T37 Eoghan Clifford Cycling Men's road time trial C3 14 September Katie-George DunlevyEve McCrystal (pilot) Cycling Women's road time trial B Colin Lynch CyclingMen's road time trial C2 Orla Barry AthleticsWomen's discus F57 Niamh McCarthy Athletics Women's discus F41 Katie-George DunlevyEve McCrystal (pilot) Cycling Women's road race B Eoghan Clifford CyclingMen's individual pursuit C3 Ellen Keane SwimmingWomen's 100 metre breaststroke SB8 Noelle Lenihan Athletics Women's discus F38
| width="22%" align="left" valign="top" |
Medals by sportSport TotalAthletics2215Cycling2215Swimming0011Total44311
Medals by dateDate Total9 Sept101211 Sept100114 Sept211415 Sept020217 Sept0112Total 4 4 3 11
Medals by genderGender TotalMale3115Female1326Total 4 4 3 11
Disability classifications
Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis. Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.
Athletics
Ireland were represented with 10 athletes in Athletics.
Track AthleteEventHeatFinalResultRankResultRankJason SmythMen's 100m T1310.76 Q110.64Paul KeoganMen's 400m T37DSQ– Did not AdvancePatrick MonahanMen's 800m T53DSQ– Did not AdvanceMen's Marathon T53 colspan="2" 1:40.2626Michael McKillopMen's 1500m T37 colspan="2" 4:12.11Orla ComerfordWomen's 100m T1312.81 q412.878Greta StreimikyteWomen's 1500m T134:51.75 q34:45.064
Field AthleteEventFinalMarkRankDeirdre MorganWomen's Shot Put F534.045Noelle LenihanWomen's Discus F37/3831.71 PRNiamh McCarthyWomen's Discus F4126.67Orla BarryWomen's Discus F56/F5730.06
Cycling
With one pathway for qualification being one highest ranked NPCs on the UCI Para-Cycling male and female Nations Ranking Lists on 31 December 2014, Ireland qualified for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, assuming they continued to meet all other eligibility requirements.
Equestrian The country earned an individual slot via the Para Equestrian Individual Ranking List Allocation method.
Football 7-a-side football
Ireland national 7-a-side football team qualified for the Rio Paralympics at 2015 World Championships because of their sixth-place finish.
The draw for the tournament was held on May 6 at the 2016 Pre Paralympic Tournament in Salou, Spain. Ireland was put into Group A with Ukraine, Great Britain and Brazil. The tournament where the draw took place featured 7 of the 8 teams participating in Rio. It was the last major preparation event ahead of the Rio Games for all teams participating. Ireland finished 5th after winning both their placement matches to the United States 4 - 3 and Argentina 0 - 3. Their roster for this tournament included Brian McGillivary, Joe Markey, Darragh Snell, Luke Evans, Eric O'Flaherty, Paraic Leacy, Gary Messett, Carl McKee, Aaron Tier, Dillon Sheridan, Tomiwa Badun, Ryan Nolan, Simon L'Estrange and Conor Tuite.
Going into the Rio Games, the country was ranked fifth in the world.
Sailing
One pathway for qualifying for Rio involved having a boat have top seven finish at the 2015 Combined World Championships in a medal event where the country had nor already qualified through via the 2014 IFDS Sailing World Championships. Ireland qualified for the 2016 Games under this criterion in the Sonar event with a ninth-place finish overall and the fourth country who had not qualified via the 2014 Championships.
Shooting
The country sent shooters to 2015 IPC IPC Shooting World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, where Rio direct qualification was available. They earned a qualifying spot at this event based on the performance of Sean Baldwin in the R7 – 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men SH1 event.
See also Ireland at the 2016 Summer Olympics
References