'We need an event to celebrate Northern Ireland's Olympians within days, not weeks - or we should arrange it ourselves': ex-Ireland rugby star Trevor Ringland
A former rugby international has said that a celebration of Northern Ireland’s Olympians should take place within days – not sometime next month, as the communities minister has suggested.
Ex-Ireland star Trevor Ringland said that if the government does not step in to organise such an event, then businesses should take up the reins and do so themselves and hire an open top to drive the winners through Belfast city centre.
He was speaking just ahead of Newtownards welcoming gold medal gymnast Rhys McClenaghan to his hometown on Friday. Rhys’ visit, alongside fellow gold medallist Jack McMillan (who used to swim in Bangor, which is part of the same borough), is one of several local events in the respective home towns of Northern Ireland's Olympians. But there has been no centralised event to honour the six medal winners from the Province (split evenly between Team GB and Team Ireland).
One is being planned by the Department for Communities, but details remain sketchy.
The department has merely indicated that the likely venue is Parliament Buildings at Stormont and that, whatever the event ends up being, it will not happen until the Paralympics have finished. They run from August 28 until the second week of September.
Mr Ringland, a solicitor who is also an advocate for sport as a tool of reconciliation, said: “Northern Ireland had a stunning success in the Olympics. The vast majority of us take great pride in our young Olympians, whether they won medals or not.
"This is a time when many young people have just got their A Level results, and the Olympians have shown how they can compete with the best in the world successfully. Even getting to the Olympics was fantastic, winning was the icing on the cake. In so many areas, the people in this small place of ours can compete globally.
"I am sure that Belfast City Council would love to showcase that success, as has been done with Mary Peters and the Ulster Rugby team. Let all the Northern Ireland athletes who competed be on an open-top bus. We trust that this is going to happen in the next few days.
"If not, the private sector should come together, and hire the buses, and notify the police, and drive them through our biggest city, Belfast. If it comes to that, I am sure many would contribute, and I would do so.
"It is a chance to celebrate the work of the Mary Peters Trust and so many others who have supported our young athletes on their journey.”
The communities minister Gordon Lyons has said he wants the general public to be invited to his department’s celebration for Northern Ireland's Olympians. In an interview with the BBC on Friday, minister Lyons said: "My officials have been tasked by me with creating a celebration appropriate to the fantastic achievements we saw displayed in Paris.
"Obviously I want to get as many people there as possible, I want to get all of the Olympians and their coaches and family members, and I also want to make sure it's open to the public. I want the public to have the opportunity to celebrate with them and I want to inspire the next generation as well.”
Here are all the medal winners from Northern Ireland, broken down by competing nation:
Team GB:
Jack McMillan of Belfast (aged 24, gold, 4x200m freestyle relay); Rebecca Shorten of Belfast (aged 30, silver, coxless four rowing); Hannah Scott of Coleraine (aged 25, gold, quadruple sculls).
Team Ireland:
Rhys McClenaghan (aged 25, gold, pommel horse); Daniel Wiffen of Magheralin, Co Armagh (aged 23, gold in 800m freestyle, bronze in 1500m freestyle); Philip Doyle of Banbridge (aged 31, bronze, double sculls).
Speaking earlier this week, Dame Mary Peters (who won gold in the pentathalon in the 1972 Munich Olympics) said of Northern Ireland’s medal haul in Paris: “I’m incredibly proud of our six NI based medallists, but also of all our local athletes who competed for Team GB and Team Ireland. There were so many personal bests and Irish records broken. Each athlete has given of their very best. Being part of an Olympic Games is an experience of a lifetime and one that all our athletes will never forget.
"Winning an Olympic Gold can make a real difference to your life. Once you’ve won Gold, you’ll forever be an Olympic champion. However, if we want our local athletes to be ‘faster, higher and stronger’ and compete at the very top levels we need to create a pipeline for talented young sports people to develop and progress to European, Commonwealth, Olympic and World competitions.
"We need even more investment from the powers that be to help them get on those initial rungs of the international sporting ladder leading to funding streams such as the National Lottery."