Eoin Harrington reporting from Team Ireland's Olympics homecoming
As we wait to speak to Ireland's double Olympic champion Fintan McCarthy outside Dublin Airport's Terminal 2, a woman approaches the Corkman.
"Can I hold it?"
Without a second's hesitation, McCarthy takes his Paris 2024 gold medal from around his neck and hands it over for the eager fan to examine. He then turns to commence our chat, paying no attention to the precious piece of silverware he has just offered up like you might in a game of "pass the parcel."
McCarthy was called up on late notice to fly the flag for Ireland at Sunday's Closing Ceremony in the Stade de France due to Daniel Wiffen's illness. The weight of the honour was not lost on the Corkman as he spoke to Balls.ie at Dublin Airport on Monday,
You never really think about those things going into the games and for them to ask me to represent...I know I got the late call-up. Daniel was meant to do it but he was feeling a bit unwell so I guess shout out to him!
It was such an honour to represent all of us. All the hard work that has gone in over the last two weeks and however long everyone's been preparing. That was really special.
As might be expected of Team Ireland at an Olympics, there was a down-to-earth atmosphere about their homecoming to Dublin.
In some ways, the humility of the Irish team was summed up by McCarthy's first return to Ireland. Before carrying the flag on Sunday, McCarthy and partner Paul O'Donovan travelled back to Cork, with their impromptu carpool home with a stranger from their flight much publicised. Thankfully for McCarthy, transport to Dublin's City Centre was sorted for Monday's homecoming.
"It's all sorted for us today, I think," McCarthy told us, "We learned our lesson, we told everyone what we were doing this time!"
🗣️'We won't make that mistake again'
Flag-bearer Fintan McCarthy was back in Dublin airport today, and this time he's got a lift home sorted. 😅
He also spoke about the honour of carrying the tricolour at Stade de France last night. pic.twitter.com/Hy300K30r9— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) August 12, 2024
Two coaches decked out in Team Ireland decorations were on hand at the airport, with the size of the crowd exemplifying what a monumental feat they have achieved over the past 16 days.
Rhys McClenaghan's redemption on the pommel horse after the heartbreak of Tokyo was arguably the pinnacle of a memorable Olympic Games for Ireland.
The County Down man told Balls.ie at Dublin Airport that the reception on touchdown in Dublin really brought home how much the team had achieved in Paris.
It's incredible. Our most successful Olympic games ever and you can see that in the fans coming out and supporting us this time.
You just get a taste of it out in the Paris but to actually see it in the flesh, all these people coming out...and then we're going in to the city centre to see even more numbers - this experience is incredible.
Mona McSharry too said that the support was "unbelievable," as the adoring screams of the crowds gathered in Swords almost drowned her out.
Many of Ireland's boxers left Paris disappointed, with questionable decisions and agonising defeats summing up their underperformance in the ring.
But the boxing team also brought us one of the greatest Irish success stories of these Games, with Kellie Harrington becoming the first Irishwoman ever to medal in two Olympics. The fact that both medals were gold was the icing on the cake.
Coach Zaur Antia has played a crucial role in Harrington's rise over the last decade and paid tribute not only to her but the community surrounding Team Ireland.
How can I feel? I'm very, very happy. It's an excellent performance. Second time, two Olympic Games. It's a huge achievement. She's really talented but she trained very well for this and she performed very well. Of course, I'm very happy and everyone's very happy.
Fantastic [to see the crowds in Dublin Airport]. That's big respect. Sport is, I think, very, very important for community. It has a big function, it's very important. This is fantastic.
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Irish heroes reflect on Olympic success at emotional homecoming
The 62-strong Team Ireland contingent moved briskly through Dublin Airport towards the buses parked outside this morning. Well, as briskly as they could, considering the generosity of so many in stopping for photos and autographs for the dozens of Irish fans who flocked to Terminal 2 to see their heroes.
But there was an even bigger party waiting in the city centre, with thousands lining O'Connell Street to celebrate the greatest Olympics in Irish history.
Seven medals - four of them gold - marks an unprecedented level of Olympic success for the Boys and Girls in Green and they lapped up the crowd's adoration with the capital's busiest street shut down for the day.
12 August 2024; Team Ireland members, from left, Rhys McClenaghan, Daire Lynch, Philip Doyle Mona McSharry, Daniel Wiffen and Fintan McCarthy are welcomed by supporters on O'Connell Street in Dublin, celebrating their remarkable achievements at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
After speaking to us at the airport, Zaur Antia was reunited with Kellie Harrington on the O'Connell Street stage, as Ireland's boxers were presented to the crowd by MCs Joanne Cantwell and Marty Morrissey.
He took the liberty of suggesting that Harrington would renege on her promise of retirement and come back to win gold in LA. Harrington, for her part, said unequivocally - "I'm done!"
Harrington's mam and dad Yvonne and Christy have become icons in their own right for their Olympic celebrations on Portland Row, both in July 2021 and last week. The story told by Kellie to the crowds on Monday perhaps best summed up the party atmosphere on O'Connell Street, metres away from the infamous New York "portal."
[As we arrived] I've seen this fella in front of the portal dancing with the Irish flag. I went, 'Who's that?!'
Of course it would only be Christy Harrington there dancing with the Irish flag!
Many of Ireland's athletes had a bittersweet end to their Olympics. To go with our seven medals, there were also heartbreaking near-misses for the likes of Rory McIlroy, Liam Jegou, Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove, and of course Rhasidat Adeleke and the sensational women's 4x400m relay team.
And yet, the electric reception the relay team received in Dublin on Monday drove home how much of an impact their sensational summer has had on the Irish public. From golds and silvers in Rome to inspiring national records in Paris, Ireland's sprinters have done themselves and their country proud.
Adeleke was absent from the homecoming on Monday, as were many of the athletes whose Olympics journey ended in the first week of competition.
The sole Irish double medallist of this Olympics, Daniel Wiffen, told the crowd he was recovering well after briefly being hospitalised with illness on Sunday. The 21-year-old once again joked that he may have set the record for the quickest retirement from a sport, after his hellish and courageous swim in the Seine 10km race on Friday.
There was so much to take in from Monday's homecoming but it was hard not to be swept up by emotion as we reflected on what Ireland achieved at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Seven medals for eight athletes from six different counties across four different sports. One only needs to look at the barren spells of the 20th century to realise just how far the Irish Olympic contingent has come.
Kellie Harrington said immediately after her second successive gold medal win last week that her triumph was for all of the children of Ireland. Judging by the immense number of young people in Irish jerseys on O'Connell Street on Monday afternoon, this team have more than done its bit in inspiring the next generation of sporting heroes.
And, as the weight of the Olympic success sunk in for many of Team Ireland's athletes on Monday afternoon, Harrington herself once again summed it up perfectly.
"We're a small nation," she told the thousands-strong crowd, "But we're a mighty nation."
Mighty stuff indeed. We will never forget that golden Parisian summer of 2024.
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