As Team Ireland finalise their training and preparations at the pre-Games camp at the Sport Ireland Campus, where high performance work is being carried out, members of the Government took the opportunity to cheer on the Irish expedition and wish them success.

Paris 2024 marks one hundred years since Ireland first competed in the Olympic Games as a nation. In that time, the Irish team has won 38 medals. Three of those medals have been for arts and literature. This edition will see a record number of Irish athletes. 

There will be 125, and never before have so many athletes from the country qualified for the final stage of the Games. Naturally, the chances of adding to the 38 medals are greater with more athletes competing.

The importance of investment and support to improve conditions for athletes has been emphasised by the authorities. The commitment of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media was a focal point.

The record for investment in elite sport in Ireland was also broken with €25 million allocated. The increase in Irish government investment from Tokyo 2020 to Paris 2024 has also been significant, from €59 million to over €89 million investment between 2021 and 2024.

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin said, "I would like to send my very best wishes to each and every member of Team Ireland for a successful Olympic Games. I hope above all that their Olympic experience will be an enjoyable one. I hope it will leave them with fond memories for the rest of their lives."

"I also hope that the Irish sporting public will support Team Ireland as they strive to fulfil their sporting dreams. By qualifying for the Olympic Games and representing the best of us in Paris this summer, our athletes are an inspiration to the whole nation", she said.

Minister for Sport, Physical Education and the Gaeltacht, Thomas Byrne, said: "As a Government we are working to support our elite athletes by investing record levels of funding in our elite sports system, including €25 million this year and €89 million over this Olympic-Paralympic cycle."

The Irish Government, through Sport Ireland, has invested over €40 million in the funding of the High Performance Programme over the entire Paris Cycle (2021-2024).

Dr Úna May, CEO of Sport Ireland, said: "We have a great mix of young and experienced talent going to Paris. Some of them will be competing in their first Games, which is just brilliant for them. We have a world-class Athlete Career Transition Programme to help with what can sometimes be a challenging transition for those attending their last Games".

Peter Sherrard, CEO of the Olympic Association of Ireland, said: "With our largest Olympic team competing in France in our centenary year, it is a very exciting moment and an occasion that we hope will leave a lasting legacy."

Ireland will be looking to excel at the Games in the same way they have excelled at international events, where they have won 300 medals. The progress is partly due to the plan outlined in the Sport Ireland High Performance Strategy 2021-2032.

Sport Ireland and the Olympic Association of Ireland are working together. Between 2021 and 2024, Sport Ireland will have invested €3,195,000 in the Olympic Federation of Ireland, including an allocation of €850,000 to support the costs associated with the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.