Bonfires burn for Clare’s silver stars

Bonfires and parties greeted Clare’s triumphant Special Olympic athletes as they returned home this week bearing three medals from the World Summer Games in Athens.
Michael Neville from Sixmilebridge and Ciara O’Loughlin from Inagh arrived in Ireland on Tuesday after spending just under two weeks in the Greek capital as part of the Irish team at the event.
17-year-old Ciara from Shannon Flyers Special Olympics Club brought home two silver medals in athletics. The North Clare teenager came second in the 3kg shot putt and in the 4 x 100m relay.
“I love basketball,” Ciara told The Clare Champion. Out of the sports she competed in, she preferred the relay.
“The relay was excellent. It was great to have other people doing it with me. After winning the medals I’m so pleased for myself, my mum and dad and all the people who supported me,” she continued.
By all accounts she had many supporters with her friends and trainers in Shannon and as many as 50 people turning up at a bonfire at Ballyea Cross, between Inagh and Ennistymon, to welcome the North Clare teenager home.
“We got a huge homecoming on Tuesday night,” Ciara’s mother, Colette said. “We had a party in Shannon and then in Ballyea. We got a garda escort to Shannon and Ciara could hardly wait for the car to stop to jump out of the car and see everyone and it was the same then at Ballyea.”
“It is a lot bigger than winning a medal really. Being selected to represent Ireland, Clare and her parish has been a brilliant experience for our daughter. The achievement wouldn’t have been possible without her club, Shannon Flyers Special Olympics Club and the Shannon Athletics Club. They both encouraged her and trained her over a few sessions every week. She also attended a Team Ireland training session one weekend per month since Christmas. It is a dream beyond our imagination and a very emotional experience to be part of this great event,” Colette added.
Ciara’s brother, Ruairi couldn’t make it to Greece but according to Colette, Ciara and Team Ireland were not short of devotees.
“Every second person was hoarse from screaming and cheering but the volunteers and coaches, they were brilliant. To be honest it is hard to find words to describe them. It was unreal,” she said.
It was not just Colette who was impressed by the volunteers, Ciara’s aunties and supporters were too. Ciara’s dad, Malachy though had special praise for the volunteers in Shannon and Clare.
“The volunteers who travelled were great but our club volunteers and coaches are really something. Many have no connections at all to children with disabilities and they really deserve a lot of credit for what they do,” he said.
“We saw at the homecoming in Shannon that really we are one big happy family after this achievement. Everyone put something into getting Ciara there. It is beyond the club’s wildest dreams given that it was only founded in 2004. All the children, the parents and volunteers were on board and were following the results and coverage very closely,” Colette agreed.
Ciara’s Ireland teammate, Michael Neville was part of the soccer team that came second in the 11-a-side competition, earning the 25-year-old a silver medal. The medal wasn’t the only thing the football enthusiast netted. He extended his impressive scoring streak by getting the winning goal in the crucial Australia match that saw Ireland win 3-2.
“I scored the winning goal against Australia and that was really good, especially because it was in the last five minutes. I scored another goal against Greece and another one against India. We had to bounce back in that one after the defeat by Turkey,” Michael told The Clare Champion.
Ireland played four classification matches before getting through to the group stages. 
“We ended up playing Denmark, Bangladesh and two Greek teams in the classification. Then our manager was told who we would play in the group stages. We played Turkey, then India, Australia and then England,” Michael recalled.
The match against England was particularly significant, according to Michael but not because of historic reasons.
“In our first game we lost to Turkey 4-1 then we got two wins before we drew against England. I didn’t want to let the Irish public down so I was under a little pressure, not much though. The England game was a special occasion because we knew we were guaranteed a silver medal at that stage. We knew that if we drew we would get the silver so that was brilliant. Turkey got the gold though after beating India 5-3,” he added.
Michael was thrilled by the reception he received when he came home.
“When I came home to the ‘Bridge, the Cappa Lodge residents gave me a nice, crowded celebration party and there were people from the residents committee giving me cards and people who knew me came out to see me. I didn’t know they were doing this, my mother didn’t tell me. It was a surprise, at the end of the day, to me and it was a really nice home coming,” he remarked.
Michael’s mother, Mary; father, Paul as well as auntie, Bridget Downes from Scariff, all travelled to Greece to support Michael, while his sister, Catherine cheered him on from home.
“It was great to be there to see him,” Mary said.  “We were so happy as parents to be there and watch the games. It was lovely for us. Special Olympics Ireland, the team of volunteers and coaches did so much for us and the athletes. They were really brilliant. We did have a few days that were a little difficult in terms of finding venues and getting transport. Without the help of the coaches we’d never of made it,” she recalls.
“Getting the winning goal was so special for Michael and for all the players really it was so important. You have to remember it was so hot there too and you could see the team doing so well despite it. We were so proud of each and every one of them. It was an experience for us as parents, to see them all doing so well. It was an honour for us,” she continued.
Of course, it wasn’t all plain sailing in Athens during the Special Olympics World Summer Games. There was some strife over austerity measures being imposed by the government.
“We had to keep a low profile at times but it was ok. The athletes were in no danger at all, they were fine and the Special Olympics took great care of them but the parents just had to be careful,” Mary concluded.
Tributes were paid to Ciara and Michael and the 124 other athletes and 49 coaches who represented Ireland by the head of Special Olympics Ireland, Minister of State Michael Ring,
John Treacy, CEO, Irish Sports Council as well as public representatives in Clare.