Paralympics Ireland

| 5 Paralympics Ireland Annual Report | 2019 Classifier training opportunities were offered by Paralympics Ireland in conjunction with the NGBs and International Federations for the following sports: Para badminton, Para table tennis and Wheelchair rugby. The classification coordinator, Ana Maia, presented at the VISTA Conference and at the Nordic Classification Seminar on "Development of an objective measure of movement coordination for swimmers with central motor and neuromuscular impairments". The role of classifiers in the para sport structure can't be underestimated. I would like to acknowledge and thank the classifiers for their diligence and professionalism. Thank you to all our classifiers, who are an integral part of the para sport structure, for their support. Anti Doping Ana Maia has been appointed as the Anti Doping officer for Paralympics Ireland and has been working in that capacity throughout 2019. Paralympics Ireland has the responsibility regarding Sport Ireland Anti-doping requirements for Paralympic Athletics and Para Swimming. In total, 49 anti-doping tests were carried out by Sport Ireland Anti-Doping Unit with athletes from para athletics (29) and para swimming (20) throughout the year of 2019. There were no failures. Paralympics Ireland respect and support Sport Ireland Anti-Doping Rules to ensure the fairness in the Para sports. Tokyo 2020 The Corona Virus has had a huge impact on all sport globally and has caused the postponement of the Paralympic Games until August 2021, this marks the first time that the games have ever been postponed. Our chef De Mission, Denis Toomey, and High Performance Director, Dave Malone are working very diligently to mitigate the effects of the postponement. The postponement will obviously have many implications across which we are working very hard to identify and remedy. As the sporting calendar begins to take shape again over the coming months it will give us a much better idea of what lies ahead for our Irish Paralympic hopefuls. During the Covid 19 crisis we have strengthened relationships with our colleagues in Sport Ireland, the Sport Ireland Institute and the Olympic Federation of Ireland. We will continue to work closely together as we plan for a time when the virus has receded, and sport can return. We have been in regular contact with our colleagues in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. The staff in the department have been a great source of advice and reassurance during a difficult time for sport. I know that we will be able to rely on the department for their support and guidance in the months to come. Strategic Plan It was a significant step forward for Paralympics Ireland as we introduced our strategic plan, 'Success Takes More' in April of 2019. The plan was launched at the Sport Ireland Institute by Minister Brendan Griffin and marked a new departure in Paralympic Sport as we focus on high performance sport and winning medals at the Paralympic Games. The report identified 4 key pillars for Paralympic Sport; Building an Effective High Performance System, Driving Leadership in Para Sport in Ireland, Creating a Sustainable Paralympics Ireland Model and Building the Profile of Paralympics in Ireland. We are now a year removed from the launch of the plan and I am pleased to say that implementation has been progressing well. This is overseen by our strategic plan implementation group consisting of our president, John Fulham, board member Lisa Clancy and former board member Pat McGinty. Para Canoeist Pat O'Leary

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