IRELAND'S PARALYMPIC athletes got a heroes' welcome at Dublin airport last night when they returned from the Beijing games.
Hundreds of supporters, friends and family were on hand to greet the team and celebrate their achievements.
A loud cheer rang out through the arrivals hall shortly before 7pm, when it was announced the plane carrying the team from Amsterdam, the final leg of their day-long journey from China, had touched down on Irish soil.
Tricolours, banners and balloons, as well as a chorus of "ole, ole, ole", generated a lively atmosphere in the arrivals hall as fans waited for the team to emerge.
Within the crowd, a very boisterous 50-strong contingent from the Asgard Swimming Club in Arklow, Co Wicklow, were making their voices heard as the awaited the return of their clubmate Darragh McDonald.
McDonald (14), a double amputee from Gorey in Co Wexford, exceeded all expectations by winning silver in the 400m freestyle swimming event. "It's a fantastic achievement for a boy of his age," said James Hedderman, a member of the club. "All the early morning and extra training have paid off for him and it has created great excitement within the club."
Brendan O'Sullivan, a teacher at Gorey Community School where McDonald is a pupil, said the hard-working young man deserved everything he had achieved in China.
O'Sullivan, along with McDonald's 26 classmates who travelled to greet him, believe it is not the last we'll hear of the swimmer. "He's so young and the way we look at it is that he has another four or five Olympics left in him, so he'll get to travel the world and improve even more as an athlete."
Gold medal winning track athletes Jason Smyth (21) and Michael McKillop (18), who both smashed their own world records at the games, led the team into the arrivals hall bearing smiles almost as bright as the medals which dangled from their necks.
Smyth, a visually impaired Derry man, secured two of Ireland's three golds in the 100 and 200 metre sprint events. "You can't do much better than to be able to, not once but twice, stand and listen to your national anthem and getting a medal," he said.
Government chief whip Pat Carey TD, who was among the dignitaries who welcomed the team, said they were an "inspiration".
