Positive signs for Irish hopefuls
There was little actual talking going on but the conversation was flowing. What a pleasant experience to observe a captive audience being entertained by a man holding court through sign language, and the breakout of laughter as he delivered the punchline. Not following a word of it was irrelevant.
The gathering in Cabra, Dublin on Wednesday was to announce the Ireland team travelling to the 22nd Deaflympics in Sofia, which begins on July 25. It was almost the case that none of this happened after the original host city, Athens, opted out as the Greek recession deepened. As far as the competing countries were concerned, there would be no Deaflympics in 2013, but then Bulgaria stepped in. While everyone was relieved that the Games would go ahead, the downside for the teams was that there were just nine months to prepare. Still, better later than never and, after Junior Sports Minister Michael Ring followed Deaf Sports Ireland (DSI) president Kevin Lynch in making their announcements and wishing the team well, you enquire about interviewing a couple of our medal-chasers in Sofia. For a brief, thoughtless moment, you wonder: ‘how am I going to interview a deaf person? Will I write down the questions and get them to write the answers?’ Then logic drops in to say hello; the translator from the speeches, Mayo woman Michelle McNulty, gladly obliges. Then that’s one of the magnificent things about people involved in minority sports such as the Deaflympics, they’ll do just that because their good news travelling will only help them grow.
