Jessica flies Cork flag as Paralympics begin

We’ve only just caught our breath from the fabulous Olympics in Paris, when Ireland performed so admirably, and it’s time for more great sport from the City of Light.

The 2024 Paralympics begin in the French capital next week, and there is coverage daily on RTÉ2.

It all begins at 6.30pm on Wednesday August 28, with the Opening Ceremony live from the iconic Champs-Elysées. Evanne Ní Chuilinn is joined by Michael McKillop, Niamh McCarthy and Peter Ryan, with commentary by John Kenny and James Scully.

The action can be seen on RTÉ2 on Thursday August 29 and Friday August 30 at 8.30am, then continues at 3.30pm each day, with Millstreet disability activist and sports journalist Joanne O’Riordan and former Cork paralympian Niamh McCarthy are among the contributors.

A total of 35 athletes have qualified to represent Team Ireland for the Paralympic Games, across nine sports.

Among them is the para-equestrian Jessica McKenna, 23, who moved to Cork 20 years ago having been born in Belfast.

She started riding at the age of six as a form of physiotherapy, and is currently studying Equine Business Management at Hartpury University in England

Jessica made her international debut in 2023 and said; “I was selected last September for the European championships in Riesenbeck, coming sixth.”

Jessica, who has cerebral palsy, will be in action in Paris on September 3, 6 and 7.

Also in action in Paris will be para-rowers Katie O’Brien and Tiernán O’Donnell, who train at the National Rowing Centre in Farran, Cork.

Katie, who was born with spina bifida, remembers being inspired when watching the Paralympic Games for the first time when they were held in London in 2012.

“We were watching on TV, and I was like, ‘Wow, the athletes are like me. I could be like them,” O’Brien said. 

“It dawned on me, and I was like, ‘That’s something that I can do, and that’s something that I really, really want to do.

I’ve always loved sports. But it had never really occurred to me that that option was out there for me.

“So that day, I sent an email to Paralympics Ireland and asked them how I can get involved.”

O’Brien, who is from Galway, tried Para rowing later that year, and will now be wearing the green jersey in Paris. She will be in action on August 30,31, and September 1.

Tiernán, from Limerick, is in action on the same dates.

The 2024 Paralympics are also being televised for the UK by Channel 4.