A New Life: Rita Lawlor tells Iva Pocock how embracing the Special Olympics transformed her life.
In the late mid-1970s Rita Lawlor was a shy teenager with very few skills or friends.
She had spent 10 years at boarding school in Dublin (from the tender age of six) before moving to a convent in Sean McDermot Street where she worked in the laundry, washing clothes and putting them through a presser.
Her next occupation was stuffing envelopes at a workshop in Templeogue. "There was no skill in it and I wasn't learning things," she says.
Then in 1978 she joined St Michael's House gymnastic club in Ballymun and began training for Special Olympic competitions. "I learnt how to put my routine together, how to remember it and how to keep in rhythm with the music," she says.
It opened up a whole new world for her. "Before I started Special Olympics I used to be shy, very shy," says Rita, with a grin.
Learning to perform in front of people and travelling to competitions in Ireland and internationally gave her new-found confidence to speak up for herself and to make friends.
It also allowed her develop excellent gymnastic skills.
"At my last competition at the 1987 World Summer Games I won the all-round competition in South Bend, Indiana," she says.
On returning home she went to the rehab in Ballyfermot. "I didn't like the atmosphere so I told them I wanted to get out."
She left and went to put light bulbs into plastic packaging at another workshop. "It was boring for me although I know workshops suit some people. Then one day I decided I was going to walk out and I did."
Her doctor told her she'd have to return to a workshop if she failed to get a job within a year, so with the help of her support worker, Rita gained a place on a Cert course.
A stint of work experience in the Gresham Hotel gave her new-found freedom and led to a part-time job which she holds to this day.
"The management are very good so it's grand. I do cleaning in the lobby, dusting, sometimes hoovering and cleaning in the ladies," she says.
Confidence gained from the Special Olympics experience also helped Rita move from sheltered group homes in Artane to independent living, she says.
"A scheme for mentally handicapped [I know we don't like that word, but that's what it was called back then] was mentioned on the telly."
She put her name on a waiting list, only to realise two years later that no record of her interest had been kept. "I was very annoyed so I wrote to the media and to TDs."
Eventually Rita got an apartment in Raheny, where she still lives. Her involvement with Special Olympics didn't end when she stopped competing.
A few years after her 1987 world championship win she went back to volunteer at Bayside Gymnastic Club.
From helping she got into coaching, and now coaches both special needs and mainstream gymnasts. "We mix it around," she says.
Rita also began to get involved in Special Olympics promotional work and in 1998 was appointed a global messenger for the organisation.
"I was telling people about Special Olympics and helping to change people's attitudes towards people with disabilities."
Her role brought her to China where she met Big Arnold ("I'll be back!") and the US where she dined with the Clintons at the White House and met Mohammed Ali in North Carolina.
Back in Ireland Rita became a board member for the 2003 games, working alongside Denis O'Brien and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, among others, and she co-hosted the opening night ceremony in Croke Park with Patrick Kielty. "Let's get the party started," shouts Rita, remembering her welcoming words.
"I got to meet famous people. Celebs! Westlife, Mickey Harte, Colm Farrell [eat your heart out!] and I enjoyed every minute of it."
The photographic proof of her celebrity encounters hang in her home - in her hall of fame.
Of course Rita is a celeb herself too, she's written a book about her life, Moving On, published by Mercier Press, and along with that comes a love of talking to journalists. "Special Olympics got me mad about the media. I'm mad about getting my point across."
Wisely, she's also protective of her privacy, so certain areas are off limits for discussion: "You have to have some privacy."
However, her ongoing work with Special Olympics remains very public. "I'm on the council of patrons now and I want to let people know that the Special Olympics is not just about the World Games. It's an all-island sport for people with learning disabilities and the clubs and centres work all year around.
"We want to improve life for people like me and we want people who are not a part of Special Olympics to get a chance to be a part of it."
In an effort to bring Special Olympics to more of the 34,000 Irish people with learning disabilities, (only 8,000 are currently involved) the organisation is shortly spearheading a Go! Campaign. It's a chance for everyone, young and old, to raise money for Special Olympics Ireland by getting active themselves.
Rita is right behind the campaign: "There's a place for everyone in Special Olympics Ireland and there's a place for you!"