Gala creates ‘special moments’ at Special Olympics Ireland Games
As the proud sponsor of Special Olympics Team Ireland, Gala delighted with "the overwhelming positivity and joyful atmosphere at each event".
Print6 July 2018
The Special Olympics Ireland Games were a great success, bringing together more than 1,600 Special Olympics athletes from across Ireland to compete in a series of events, with the support of 600 coaches and more than 2,000 volunteers.
As before, Gala was proud sponsor of Special Olympics Team Ireland, and provided 66,000 bottles of water took keep the athletes, coaches and volunteers hydrated over the weekend. Meanwhile, actor and TV personality Aoibhin Garrihy was Gala’s special correspondent, and spent the duration capturing videos of the #GalaSpecialMoments taking place throughout the event, for sharing on the Gala Retail’s facebook page.
Meanwhile, Gala also introduced its own award for the 2018 Games. The ‘Gala Fair Play Award’ was created to recognise athletes who embodied the spirit and enthusiasm of the Special Olympics Ireland Games 2018. On each day of the Games, one athlete was selected to receive the award.
Speaking about the awards, chief executive of Gala Retail, Gary Desmond, said Gala is very proud to be a sponsor. “Through Gala’s ongoing partnership with Special Olympics and our attendance at various regional activities and events, we have constantly been impressed with the overwhelming positivity and joyful atmosphere at each event,” Desmond said. “The athletes play no small part in this, embodying the very spirit of what Special Olympics is all about and enjoying the opportunities to represent themselves, their clubs and their country and we wanted to create an award that recognised athletes that have been outstanding ambassadors for the organisation and the Ireland Games.”
The Gala Fair Play awards were won by 20 year-old Grace O’Brien from Galway, 14 year-old Clodagh Robbins from Cork, who won gold, silver and bronze medals for Team Munster, and Paul McFadden, aged 17, of Team Ulster.
Gala has been a partner of Special Olympics Ireland for the past four years, since the Special Olympics World Games back in 2015. In 2016, Gala Retail extended its commitment by pledging to become a major supporter of Special Olympics Ireland for a further four years; this agreement will see the partnership continue for the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games, which will take place in Abu Dhabi in March 2019.
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