Irish Examiner view: Rome gave Ireland even more reasons to fund our athletes properly

Ireland’s Chris O’Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr, and Sharlene Mawdsley celebrate with their Mixed 4x400m Relay gold medals at the Stadio Olympico — just one of the Irish success stories from the European Athletics Championships. Picture: Morgan Treacy/Inpho

There can be no doubt about the highlight of the week for most Irish people — the magnificent performances by our athletes at the European Championships in Rome have been good for the soul.

Rhasidat Adeleke and Phil Healy, Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker, Ciara Mageean and Thomas Barr, were all well known before the championships began, but they are household names now. The power and determination of the female athletes has been particularly eye-catching in the last week or two as medals have been won and records broken.