Ireland’s 133 athletes will be welcomed home from Paris today, after the most successful Olympic Games in the State’s history.
The athletes will take part in a celebratory homecoming in Dublin city centre this afternoon to mark Ireland’s biggest medal haul.
Dublin City Council is organising an event at the GPO on O’Connell Street to celebrate the success.
Crowds are expected to gather from 12.30pm for the event, which will begin around lunchtime.
Taoiseach Simon Harris will thank the athletes from Team Ireland.
He will tell the team that they have inspired the nation and that there must now be a legacy from the Paris Olympics and that means Ireland’s investment in sport will be higher than it has ever been before.
A total of 64 women and 69 men competed for Team Ireland across 14 sports, winning seven medals in total.
Four gold medals were won across various events at the Paris games.
Daniel Wiffen, 23, won gold in the men’s 800m final and also took a bronze in the men’s 1,500 metres final.
Rhys McClenaghan, 25, won gold in the pommel horse final, in what he called his “redemption story”.
Three athletes retained their Olympic titles from the Tokyo games: Skibbereen rowers Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy in the men’s lightweight double sculls; and Dubliner Kellie Harrington in the women’s 60kg boxing event.
Olympians arrive at Dublin Airport ahead of homecoming
Mona McSharry, from Co Sligo, won a bronze medal in the 100 metre breaststroke, while rowers Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch also won bronze.
O’Connell Street will be closed to traffic from 10:30am until 5pm and diversions will be in place. All buses with stops on O’Connell Street will be diverted from 10am.
On the Luas, there will be no trams running between Smithfield and Connolly on the Red Line from 9:20am until 10pm.
There will be no trams running between Dominick and St Stephen’s Green on the Green Line from 9:20am until 10pm. During this time, trams will run between Broombridge and Dominick, and between St Stephen’s Green and Brides Glen only.
Meanwhile, Daniel Wiffen said he was taken to hospital after feeling unwell yesterday.
In a post on X, the gold medal swimmer said he was “incredibly disappointed” not to be Team Ireland’s flag-bearer alongside Mona McSharry at the closing ceremony last night.
“Yesterday I rushed to hospital as I was very unwell with a bug that I am being treated for, and am feeling better now.
“I hope everyone enjoys the evening and I hope to be well enough to seeing everyone when we get home,” he said.
Minister for Sport Catherine Martin and Minister of State for Sport and Physical Education Thomas Byrne will later welcome the athletes.
Ms Martin said: “Team Ireland has made the nation so proud, our most successful team ever at an Olympic Games.
“Over these past few weeks, thousands of Irish supporters travelled to France to loudly cheer on the team and it was clear that our athletes greatly appreciated this support.
“We have invested at all levels, from the high performance system right on down to the grassroots community level and we will continue to build on that investment in the years to come, to provide our athletes with the support they deserve.”
Mr Byrne said: “We sent our biggest ever team to the Paris Games, and they have returned with our greatest ever medal haul.
“What we have seen in Paris represents the very best of a strong Irish sports system that is delivering for a diversity of sports,” the minister of state added.
There will be live coverage of the Olympic Homecoming from the GPO when it gets under way this afternoon online here, on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player.
