The team has been working hard preparing for the Paralympics. The team, who train every Saturday in Sportslink, also took part in additional training in two four day training camps in UL, Limerick (April & August) and Jordanstown, Belfast (June). The team also travelled to Portugal for a 10 day warm weather camp and have played Scotland, Netherlands and Portugal Representative teams in friendlies throughout the summer to pitch themselves against the best.

Last year, the squad travelled to Brazil for the Cerebral Palsy World Championships where they clinched their place in the Paralympic games by finishing in the top eight.

Paul Cassin, manager of the Republic of Ireland squad said, “The players have worked extremely hard over the summer ahead of these Paralympic games. We had a training camp in Portugal to prepare the players for the heat and now that we are in China, we have two friendlies ahead of the competitive fixtures. He added, “Only the top 8 teams in the world qualify for the Paralympics and Ireland deserve their place in this small prestigious group.”

This summer, the Cerebral Palsy Irish squad were invited to the Ernest Happel stadium in Vienna to take part in an exhibition match at half time of the semi final of EURO 2008 as part of a UEFA Football for All initiative championed by UEFA President Michel Platini.

Republic of Ireland squad:

Darren Kavanagh – Greenhills, Tallaght
Brian McGillivary – Firhouse, Dublin
Mark Jones - Belfast
Gary Messett – Bray, Co. Wicklow
Kieran Devlin – Inchicore, Dublin
Aidan Brennan – Lucan, Dublin
Paul Dollard – Rathfarnham, Dublin
Finbar O Riordan – Blackrock, Cork
Alan O Hara – Portrane, Dublin
Luke Evans – Artane, Dublin
Joe Markey – Clontibret, Co. Monaghan
Derek Malone – White Gate, Co. Clare

Management Team
Paul Cassin – Manager
Bobby Brown – Head Coach
Mick Doyle – Assistant Coach

Friendly Fixtures
28th August Friendly v China
30th September Friendly v Kerrygold Selection

Paralympics Fixtures
8th September v Iran
10th September v Ukraine
12th September v Great Britain
14th September v TBC
16th September v TBC

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