Thanks for your kindness to us, but fear for your right to speak out

FIRST of all, I hope you won’t mind if I use this space to say thank you to the literally hundreds of people who wrote, telephoned and e-mailed my missus and me after the piece we wrote in the Irish Examiner last week.

I'm fairly clear now that there isn't just goodwill towards people with disabilities, there's a growing conviction that Ireland can and should do a lot more.

The encouragement we received has been reflected in the support and encouragement shown by the people of Ireland towards the Games themselves and towards the ethos behind them.