Irish Examiner view: Take pride in our paralympians

Inspirational victories in Tokyo

Ellen Keane celebrates winning a gold medal for Ireland in the 100m breaststroke final. Picture: INPHO/Tommy Dickson

Even if there are growing questions around the viability of the Olympic Games and the capacity of what might be called normal societies to run the huge financial risk of hosting them, the games have a romance and a capacity to encourage optimism that few other events can match.

The gold medal success of West Cork’s oarsmen Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan, and bronze medal winner Emily Hegarty too, at the $15.4bn Tokyo games inspired and brought great joy to the country.