Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 has competed at every Summer Paralympic Games

Summer Paralympic Games

The Summer Paralympic Games or the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event, where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and Cerebral Palsy. The Paralympic Games are held every four years,...

 but the country has never taken part in the Winter Paralympics. Irish athletes have won 178 Summer Paralympic medals, 47 gold, 57 silver and 74 bronze. Athletes from Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, who may elect to hold Irish citizenship

Irish nationality law

Irish nationality law is the law of the Republic of Ireland governing citizenship. A person may be an Irish citizen through birth, descent, marriage to an Irish citizen or through naturalisation. Irish nationality law is currently contained in the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship...

 under the pre-1999 article 2 of the Irish constitution

Constitution of Ireland

The Constitution of Ireland is the fundamental law of the Irish state. The constitution falls broadly within the liberal democratic tradition. It establishes an independent state based on a system of representative democracy and guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected...

, are able to be selected to represent either Great Britain

Great Britain at the Paralympics

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has participated in every Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. Britain has performed particularly well at the Summer Paralympic Games, consistently finishing between second and fifth on the medal tables - a slightly better performance than at...

 or Ireland at the Paralympics.

The Paralympic Council of Ireland is the governing body for Paralympic sport in the country. The council was initially set up in 1987 to be a coordinating committee for the 1988 Summer Paralympics

1988 Summer Paralympics

The 1988 Summer Paralympics were the first Paralympics in 24 years that take place in the same city as the Olympic Games. They took place in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time the term "Paralympic" came into official use.- Sports :...

 in Seoul but is now the representative organisation for all International Paralympic Committee

International Paralympic Committee

The International Paralympic Committee is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nine sports...

 events.

At the first Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome

1960 Summer Paralympics

The 1960 Summer Paralympics, originally known as the 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, were the first international Paralympic Games, following on from the Stoke Mandeville Games of 1948 and 1952. They were organised under the aegis of the International Stoke Mandeville Games...

 Ireland were one of 23 nations to enter athletes. The team finished 12th in the medals table with both of Ireland's gold medals being won by Joan Horan. Horan won her medals in two different sports, one in women's St. Nicholas Round open archery and one in the women's 25 m Crawl complete class 2 swimming event. At the next Games

1964 Summer Paralympics

The 1964 Summer Paralympics, originally known as the 13th International Stoke Mandeville Games, were the 2nd Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Tokyo, Japan, they were the last Summer Paralympics to take place in the same city as the Summer Olympics until the 1988 Summer Paralympics...

, hosted by Tokyo in 1964, no Irish athlete won a medal, this remains Ireland's only Summer Paralympics with no medal winners. The most medals won by Ireland at a Paralympic Games is 65, 20 of them gold, at the 1984 Games

1984 Summer Paralympics

The 1984 Summer Paralympics were the seventh Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in two separate locations, Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom and in the Mitchel Athletic Complex and Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, United States of America The 1984 Summer Paralympics were the...

 hosted in New York and Stoke Mandeville

Stoke Mandeville

Stoke Mandeville is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district to the south-east of Aylesbury in the county of Buckinghamshire, England. Although a separate civil parish, the village falls within the Aylesbury Urban Area...

.

At the 2008 Summer Paralympics

2008 Summer Paralympics

The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao....

, held in Beijing, Ireland won five medals in total, three of them gold. There was controversy over the participation of Derek Malone

Derek Malone

Derek Malone is a paralympic athlete from Ireland competing mainly in category T38 middle distance events.Derek competed in the 2000 and 2004 Summer Paralympics. In his first games he competed in the 5000m and 800m before changing to the 800m and 400m in his second games where he won the 800m...

 in the 7-a-side cerebral palsy football tournament

Football 7-a-side at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

7-a-side football at the 2008 Summer Paralympics was held at the Olympic Green Hockey Field from September 8 to September 16. One event was contested, a men's team competition.-Classfication:...

. Malone, who had competed in the 800 m event at the Athens Paralympics

2004 Summer Paralympics

The 2004 Summer Paralympics were held in Athens, Greece, from September 17 to September 28. The twelfth Paralympic Games, an estimated 4,000 athletes took part in the Athens programme, with ages ranging from 11 to 66. Paralympic events had already taken place during the 2004 Summer Olympics as...

 was ruled as ineligible to compete by Games classification authorities on the grounds that his disability was not severe enough.

Medals by Summer Games

Rank
1960 Rome 1960 Summer Paralympics The 1960 Summer Paralympics, originally known as the 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, were the first international Paralympic Games, following on from the Stoke Mandeville Games of 1948 and 1952. They were organised under the aegis of the International Stoke Mandeville Games...	2	0	0	2	12
1964 Tokyo 1964 Summer Paralympics The 1964 Summer Paralympics, originally known as the 13th International Stoke Mandeville Games, were the 2nd Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Tokyo, Japan, they were the last Summer Paralympics to take place in the same city as the Summer Olympics until the 1988 Summer Paralympics...	0	0	0	0
1968 Tel-Aviv 1968 Summer Paralympics The 1968 Summer Paralympics were the third Paralympic Games to be held. Organised under the guidance of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation , they were known as the 17th International Stoke Mandeville Games at the time...	0	4	5	9	19
1972 Heidelberg 1972 Summer Paralympics The 1972 Summer Paralympics, the fourth edition of the Paralympic Games, were held in Heidelberg, West Germany, from August 2 to 11, 1972.- Sports :As with previous Paralympics, the 1972 games were intended for wheelchair athletes only...	2	4	2	8	21
1976 Toronto 1976 Summer Paralympics The 1976 Summer Paralympics were the fifth Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Toronto, in the province of Ontario, Canada from August 3 to 11, 1976...	4	10	6	20	21
1980 Arnhem 1980 Summer Paralympics The 1980 Summer Paralympics were the sixth Paralympic Games. They were held in Papendal, close to the host city of Arnhem, Netherlands, from June 21 to 30, 1980.- Sports :...	4	2	11	17	25
1984 Stoke Mandeville 1984 New York 1984 Summer Paralympics The 1984 Summer Paralympics were the seventh Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in two separate locations, Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom and in the Mitchel Athletic Complex and Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, United States of America The 1984 Summer Paralympics were the...	20	15	30	65	14
1988 Seoul 1988 Summer Paralympics The 1988 Summer Paralympics were the first Paralympics in 24 years that take place in the same city as the Olympic Games. They took place in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time the term "Paralympic" came into official use.- Sports :...	13	11	18	42	19
1992 Barcelona 1992 Summer Paralympics The 1992 Summer Paralympics were the ninth Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.- Sports :The games consisted of 487 events spread over fifteen sports. Powerlifting and weightlifting were considered to be a single sport...	0	3	4	7	43
1996 Atlanta 1996 Summer Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, USA were held from 16 August to 25 August. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million....	1	3	6	10	45
2000 Sydney 2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Paralympic Games were held in Sydney, Australia, from 18 October to 29 October. The eleventh Summer Paralympic Games, an estimated 3800 athletes took part in the Sydney programme. They commenced with the opening ceremony on 18 October 2000...	5	3	1	9	31
2004 Athens 2004 Summer Paralympics The 2004 Summer Paralympics were held in Athens, Greece, from September 17 to September 28. The twelfth Paralympic Games, an estimated 4,000 athletes took part in the Athens programme, with ages ranging from 11 to 66. Paralympic events had already taken place during the 2004 Summer Olympics as...	0	3	1	4	60
2008 Beijing 2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao....	3	1	1	5	36
Total	47	57	74	178	-