17 June: It was a case of getting to know each other and making new friends as Naas Town Council this morning hosted a breakfast for the 71 New Zealand Special Olympics athletes and their coaches in Killashee House Hotel.
Mayor Timmy Conway welcomed the visiting delegation which is led by Chris Hooper, and wished them and the three local athletes every success in the Special Olympic World Games next week.
He paid tribute to Denis Curry, chairman of the Naas Host Town Committee, his committee, and all the other volunteers, as well as the host families. “You have put this together over the last three years. It’s been an extraordinary journey to reach this point.”
NZ is the furthest country from Ireland taking part and the visitors, who arrived late yesterday, travelled via Los Angeles to be here.
The Mayor said the Special Olympics is ‘about education, about opening our minds to where we are, and that everybody has a gift’. He said to have people like Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali at the Games ‘is wonderful indeed’. He ended by saying ‘this is a week of enjoyment, and of grandeur, your week and this is Naas’s week’.
Naas Host Town committee has urged all local business to rally to decorate Naas to the utmost in time for the arrival of the Torch Run on Friday.
Welcoming the Kiwis, Denis Curry (pictured above left) hoped the prepared programme would strike a balance between training and fun during the week. He had great words of his own ‘brilliant’ and hard working committee.
On behalf of the delegation, Chris Hooper - who is Executive Director of the Special Olympics in New Zealand and pictured above right - thanked the organisers, volunteers and the host families, for their outstanding welcome. He was grinning when he chided the Mayor for having got it wrong when he had told the gathering they were dining where local trainer Dermot Weld had trained two winners of the Melbourne Cup.
“The Melbourne Cup is in Australia, not New Zealand,” he reminded the Mayor.
On behalf of the day’s hosts, the Irish Prison Service, Paul Kelly said it was a privilege to be involved in the occasion. The Prison Service has been involved with Special Olympics for the past 15 years. The day’s activities included a visit to the new National Aquatic Centre, some bowling ... and a visit to a prison for female offenders!
Two birthdays were marked with the arrival of surprise birthday cakes - one to a NZ athlete (pictured above), the other to the Naas Host Town PRO, Cllr Pat O’Reilly (pictured below).
A special green vest was presented to a young visiting athlete named Robert for his football prowess.
The base camp for the 55 volunteers for the Special Olympics is at Naas Rugby Club and the Club’s John Walsh (above) gave huge praise to Frances Higgins (above) for her ‘Five Star’ organising efforts for the host town programme.
Denis Curry with Kieran Redmond, vice chairman, Naas Host Town committee.
