News

Special Olympics held the Athletes Design Co_Lab in the America First Field Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA on July 16th 2025. Athletes from around the world got together to help come up with design ideas to use with Special Olympics Merchandise for people around the world to buy on the Special Olympics website.

Special Olympics Ireland was ably represented at Leinster House on Wednesday 19th November, as CEO Karen Coventry, SOI Board member and founder of Sport for Business Rob Hartnett and Athlete Leader Ashwin Maliyakal met with Charlie McConalogue, Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, with special responsibility for Sport and Postal Policy.

This year’s Ulster Region Athlete Leadership Forum took the theme "Technology and Leadership", making for a fantastic and memorable day.

Special Olympics Ireland CEO Karen Coventry and the Chairperson of the Board Dr Brendan O’Brien were privileged to attend the Inauguration of the President of Ireland Catherine Connolly in Dublin Castle on Tuesday.

We’re thrilled to announce that Gardaí from Portlaoise Garda Station and Abbeyleix Garda Station will be hosting their fantastic “Cops & Donuts” fundraiser this Sunday, 17 November (10 am – 4 pm) at Laois Shopping Centre. All proceeds will go directly to supporting our Special Olympics Ireland athletes.

The Federation of Irish Sport has launched the 2025 Volunteers in Sport Awards, and with 2 awards now open to nominations from the public, there's never been a better time to recognise the Special Olympics volunteer heroes in your life!

The Lions Europa Forum 2025 brought Special Olympics and Lions Club members together in a way that highlighted the tremendous impact of our programmes including Young Athletes.

An informative poster on the Strong Minds, Happier Lives Programme was presented at the UDL Symposium 2025.

The Munster Region played host to this year’s Healthfest in MTU Cork on 28 September, offering a super programme of health-focussed workshops delivered in collaboration with our partner organisations to support athlete wellbeing.

We’re thrilled to see the incredible young athletes highlighted in the recent Belfast Live article — bringing energy, commitment and joy to the sport.

Special Olympics Ireland and Table Tennis Ireland have officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will see both organisations work together to foster greater inclusion in the sport of table tennis.

Special Olympics Ireland is proud to announce a new four-year partnership with Stena Line, extending from 2025 through 2028.