As part of the rebranding, a new Paralympics Ireland logo has been designed to reflect, what officials claim, is the dynamism of Irish Paralympic Sport.

The logo set to adorn all Paralympics Ireland collateral from January 2011, including the Irish team's official London 2012 performance and leisure wear.

Liam Harbison, chief executive of Paralympics Ireland, said: "The launch of Paralympics Ireland today marks a very significant milestone in the history of the organisation.

"The aim of this process was to deliver a dynamic new name and logo that clearly reflect the talents and abilities of Ireland's Paralympians and the dedication and commitment to the Paralympic movement by the Organisation.

"These changes have been made following a process of engagement with our Irish Paralympic athletes and our many existing and new corporate partners.

"We look forward to increasing awareness of Irish Paralympic Sport in the build up to London 2012 and to building on the success our athletes have delivered to date."

Colm Murray, who has reported from every Paralympic Games since Sydney 2000, was on hand alongside Harbison to officially launch the new name and logo.

A number of leading Irish Paralympians, including Bray's current Boccia world champion Padraic Moran and Ballinahown's hand cycling world champion Mark Rohan, were also present to launch Paralympics Ireland as was John Treacy, the 1984 Olympic marathon silver medallist, who is now the chief executive of the Irish Sports Council.



Treacy said: "The Irish Sports Council is proud of its long and successful relationship with Paralympics Ireland.

"It is one of the outstanding success stories of Irish sport over the past decade.

"Today is an important milestone in its continuing development as an ambitious, strong and independent organisation that provides excellent services and leadership to its athletes, sports and the wider community."

Established in 1987 as a Coordination Committee for the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games, the organisation has evolved into its current remit to develop performance and manage all elite representative Irish Paralympic sport.

The new look Paralympics Ireland organisation has adopted the tagline, "Inspiring Beyond Belief", which will feature prominently in all organisation messaging.

A 70-strong elite panel of Irish Paralympic athletes across nine sports hoping to compete in London next year, including the visually impaired double Paralympic sprint champion Jason Smyth and reigning Paralympic 800 metres champion Michael McKillop, was also announced at the launch event.

Paralympics Ireland have announced the panels will meet on an annual basis in order to ensure the focus of preparations for the London 2012 prioritises the athletes most likely to represent Ireland at those Games.

The athletes announced on the panel today have met the agreed performance criteria for inclusion.

This panel will participate in Paralympics Ireland training camps, performance and preparation programmes this year.

Nancy Chillingworth, Paralympic Performance Director, said: "To have seventy athletes in the running to qualify for London at this stage is extremely promising for 2012 with the strong likelihood that it will be Ireland's largest Paralympic Team ever.

"These athletes now have a tough and exciting year ahead as they target qualification for the Games.

"They are the focus of Paralympics Ireland's preparation plans for London and will travel to Portugal in August this year to participate in a dry run of our London 2012 holding camp.

"We are looking forward to working closely with them and their support teams to secure qualification for London 2012."

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