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WHAT AN INCREDIBLE summer it has been for Irish sportswomen.
They’ve been absolutely blowing it out of the water, both on the international stage and on home soil, and catching the eyes of the nation while doing so. Perhaps it’s best epitomised by our World Cup heroes over in London.
Many didn’t know the Irish women’s hockey team even existed before their stunning exploits across the water of late, a remarkable journey which resulted in World Cup silver medals. From zeros to heroes, they captured hearts across the length and breadth of the country and have most definitely culminated a huge untapped following as a result.
The Green Army were intriguing to watch in battle through their campaign; the sheer heart and determination, pride in the jersey and enjoyment in their sport radiating through our TV screens.
Not just that though. The action itself made for seriously good watching; the skill, the fitness, the hunger and passion shining through, and as for those dramatic penalty shootouts … it really was epic.
What about that old argument that men’s sport is better to watch? Go on, try and tell me that that wasn’t just as good – if not better. It’s been said to me so many times lately – especially in terms of ladies football – that it’s actually much more exciting to watch.
That said, we need to stop comparing. Take it for what it is.
The All-Ireland ladies football and camogie championships are well and truly hitting their respective business ends over the coming weeks with the semi-finals and finals looming. Do yourself a favour and get out to watch a match or two – and if you can’t make it, tune into TG4 and RTÉ. Then make your own judgement.
‘Watch it, enjoy it, praise it’
The only way is up, there is no longer this dominant sense of tokenism. People are realising that Irish women really are leading the way and it’s an outstanding time that needs to be recognised and relished.
Soccer, boxing, rugby, basketball, softball, swimming, athletics, hockey and much, much more; it’s a truly fantastic period for women’s sport in Ireland.
Just look at the last few weeks, hockey hype aside. The Ireland women’s relay team were also history makers at the World U20 Championships as they took the silver medal.
The quartet of Molly Scott, Gina Akpe-Moses, Ciara Neville and Patience Jumbo-Gula along with the injured Rhasidat Adeleke on the sidelines, combined to give Irish sports fans something to be really excited about, both as a group and as individuals.
Donegal’s Sommer Lecky came home from the same meet with high jump silver, while a week prior to that, 15-year-old Adeleke stromed to 200m gold at the European U18s.
Sarah Healy is another bright, bright prospect who was on fire with gold in Hungary, and a name that you’ll be hearing plenty of over the next few years.
There’s a truly special crop coming through, some amazingly talented athletes and sportspeople who will undoubtedly build on this golden period of success we’ve had the pleasure of witnessing of late.
Team-wise, stick with Graham Shaw’s Green Army as they go in pursuit of Olympic qualification. The national soccer team came agonisingly close to reaching a first-ever major tournament this year but fell just short in their 2019 World Cup qualifiers. Keep the faith and keep following them on their journey.
Underage basketball and softball teams are others to have made waves over the past few weeks and months, while the standard of ladies football and camogie is rising through the roof year on year.
It’s incredible to see, and needs to be fully appreciated. Watch it, enjoy it, praise it. Keep getting behind these special talents and soak it all in. Times like these don’t come around too often, but the onus is on everyone to make sure they stay.
And that Irish sportswomen keep flying that flag as high as they have been.
Emma Duffy is a sports writer for The42. She has been heavily involved in numerous sports through the years from soccer to athletics, tennis to swimming, and has played Gaelic football at inter-county, club and college level. She lines out with Kingscourt Stars in Cavan.
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Wonderful news! Common sense prevails. Rare but very very welcome.
This is great. If the kids with down Syndrome receive and are given the opportunity of a decent education then they will be fairly independent in later life.
They can hold down jobs and live a full and contribute to society.
Unfortunately the journal are jumping the gun on this one,while the bill will go uncontested,Minister Quinn have pulled the rug from under our feet,his new ‘special needs’ plan will precede all the that Finian McGrath has worked for and our kids will be at the bottom of the pile again,
cheers Ruairi,karma will win this one,I have no doubt!!!!
Seriously Nichola? That is a horrible thing for government to do.
That’s a start lets wait and see what Quinn has in store though. It would be really lovely if we as parents didn’t have to meet with the department inspectors to argue the case for keeping our child’s special needs assistant too.
Some good news :)
While this is very good news for children with Down’s syndrome and welcome, why is this only being offered to children with this specific diagnosis? There are many children who do not have an SNA or adequate resource hours at school because they “only” have mild intellectual disability.
The only reason for it coming up it is due to the very hard work of a group of parents and Down Syndrome Ireland supporters .
If this comes to into place then it points the way to all other interested groups. Everybody wants what’s best for every child no matter what their needs are.
The reason this is aimed at children with Down Syndrome was because Down Syndrome was not classified as a low incident disability and so resource hours were not guaranteed. This has now changed. Psychological assessments are used also in order to allocated resource hours presently. It’s true that you need a lobby group to enforce change but there are lots of groups out there who include all disabilities who could lobby on behalf of other children.
I am totally in favour of any resources being made available for people with disabilities but surely it would make more sense to provide resources to people depending on their level of intellectual disability rather than what disability they have i.e down syndrome. What about every other child who are born in this country with an intellectual disability that is an unknown syndrome or disorder. Surely more resources should be made available for them too. They should be passing a bill for mainstream schooling for people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, so every child is giving the chance not just down syndrome specific
Great news for those waiting for many years BUT ELECTION IS ON ITS WAY,,,
have your say