Sports Minister Paul Givan offers best wishes to athletes before Paralympics in Rio

The Games take place from today to September 18.

The Minister said: “So much training and dedication goes into preparing for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and a few weeks back I saw this for myself when I had the pleasure of meeting swimmer Bethany Firth while she was training at the Performance Development Centre in Lisburn.

“Sport has a positive impact on our lives, both physically and mentally, so I am particularly pleased that we have such great role models and ambassadors to encourage young people to participate in sport.

“It is also important that we invest in sport and I am pleased that my Department has recently invested £1million in disability sports.”

Four athletes from Northern Ireland have been selected for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Givan added: “I will look forward to watching the Paralympic Games and hopefully we will see some medals.”