Special Olympics Charity Christmas Cards On Sale Now!

We're delighted to announce that our charity Christmas cards are on sale now in 42 eir retail stores across Ireland. Available only while stocks last! You can find the list of stores here.



World Summer Games,
Abu Dhabi,
March 14th to 21st 

91 athletes supported by a dedicated team of 30 coaches traveled to Abu Dhabi to represent Team Ireland at the World Summer Games.

This was the first time the World Games were held in the Middle East North Africa Region and they did not disappoint. The sporting facilities and venues were fantastic. Whilst the heat did pose some challenges the team excelled bringing home a total of 86 medals alongside an additional 46 placed finishes and many personal bests.

A huge thank you has to go out to all the supporters who turned up to give our athletes the heroes welcome they deserved at Dublin Airport.

The atmosphere was truly special!

Relive all the moments from the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games with our video playlist of events from the launch right through to the homecoming event.


Healthy Communities Recognition Award, August 2019

Special Olympics Ireland was awarded the Healthy Communities Recognition Award in August.

This is the highest health distinction awarded by Special Olympics International and it acknowledges the continuous work carried out towards improving accessibility of health information and services for our athletes. 

Thank you to everyone who has been involved in pushing this agenda.


Annual Collection Day,
Friday 24th April 2020

Almost 3,000 volunteers alongside many companies, schools and community groups took part in Collection Day, helping us to raise a phenomenal €555,000.

These funds are vital to our year round programme.
Next years Collection Day takes place on Friday 24th April and we would greatly appreciate your support again so please save this date in your diaries.

Knocklions Special Olympics Club helped launch our media campaign for Collection Day


All-Ireland Coaching Conference,  March

The very first All-Ireland Coaching Conference took place in March and included a fantastic panel of expert speakers which included Kellie Harrington, World Championship Boxer, Fiona Murray, Director of Coaching and Education with Special Olympics International, Dr. Anne Marie Waldron, Clinical Director of Dublin North City and County, Sheelagh Quinn, Coaching Children Programme, Sport Ireland Coaching and Melanie McKee, Stranmillis University College (Co-founder of the International Physical Literacy Association)

This years conference was open to all coaches, local sports partnerships and colleges to attend and focused on ‘Coaching the Future’ and included an exciting line up of workshops.

Planning is already well underway for next years conference and we'll be releasing details in the New Year.

 


601 New Athletes 
We extend a very warm welcome to the 601 new athletes who joined our programme this year.
These and many more athletes like them will train in their clubs on a weekly basis all year round.
We wish our clubs a Merry Christmas as they prepare for a well deserved break.


Young Athletes Programme 
Our Young Athletes Programme continued to grow and there are now 262 athletes in 22 clubs supported by 95 coaches.
This year 5 Come and Try days were held across Ireland.
We look forward to holding more of these events next year.

Happy Birthday!
Rebel Rockets and Donabate Portrane Special Olympics Clubs both celebrated their first birthdays recently.
Both clubs are going from strength to strength and are well established Young Athletes Clubs.
Rebel Rockets are introducing a sport and Donabate Portrane are now offering three sessions on a Saturday.
We know there is fantastic work happening out their in other clubs so please keep sharing your good news with your regional office or private message our Facebook Page here.

Volunteer Applications for World Winter Games now open!
The World Winter Games are taking place in Sweden between the 6th and 12th February 2021. 
Over 2,000 athletes from 105 countries will compete at these Games. Our athletes are already preparing for them as they get set to compete in the qualifying Ireland Winter Games taking place in Northern Ireland next March (20th to 22nd).
If you are interested in volunteering at the World Winter Games please email us at fundraising@specialolympics.ie by 13th December and we will send you more information.