As the year of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games nears its close, focus now turns to the future.
As Paralympics Ireland prepares to unveil a new strategy in 2025, one question is driving the conversation: so what? What impact can the Paralympic movement have beyond the Games? How can the platform of Paris 2024 have a lasting impact on society?
This is a question that Paralympics Ireland Strategy Manager and multiple Paralympic champion Jason Smyth is trying to answer as he looks to help build a sustainable future that amplifies the voices of people with disabilities and drives societal change.
“The biggest priority is to make sure everyone is heard. But also to have clarity in what Paralympics Ireland and the Paralympics movement does. In my own experiences that hasn’t been crystal clear which can leave room for less structures and systems in place that could potentially have a greater impact so for me that’s the big piece.
By its nature, Paralympics Ireland is associated with elite-level competition. However, the four-time Paralympian believes that the organisation must now look beyond performance alone.
“We’ve always seen Paralympics Ireland as the body supporting elite athletes. But since London 2012, the platform and profile of Paralympians have grown significantly,” he says. “While athletes focus on maximising their performances, we also need to optimise that visibility.
“The topic that is really going to be explored is ‘so what?’ and that is being explored internationally. So we have these brilliant performances and we’re given this platform but what is it that we’re trying to do with that? Key to that is having the voices of people with disabilities heard. At the heart of what Paralympics Ireland does or what Para sport does is Paralympians. If you don’t have them connected to what you’re doing, you’re missing something. If the people who it impacts the most aren’t involved or at the heart of what’s happening, how do you have clarity in what you’re trying to achieve? Staff come and go but these people are tied to this organisation forever.
“There’s a responsibility in the wider space to develop these people as leaders who can help shape where we’re going.”
Aligned with this goal is the theme of this year’s UN International Day for Persons with Disabilities, ‘Amplifying the Leadership of Persons with Disabilities for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future’.
It is a broad and far-reaching goal with no quick solution. Especially in an area where inclusivity is somewhat of a paradox as Smyth explains.
“We need a sustainable future. We need to find Paralympians, get the most out of their performance and then use their platform and profile from the Games to have a greater impact. But how do you make that circle sustainable? That is a huge piece and it’s not necessarily an easy piece. But it’s something we strive for.
“What’s ironic about the term ‘inclusive’ here is that performance sport is by its very nature exclusive. It’s the best of the best competing at the higher level. But the aim of that then is to create an impact where society is more aware and inclusive of people with disabilities as a result. And we will be looking at that from a sporting angle. Sport is often at the forefront of everything else that happens in society, it breaks down the barriers and then it crosses boundaries that others are less willing to go and can lead the way. We want to show people what is possible and to be more open-minded. We don’t want to look at people and judge them but rather create the same opportunities regardless of impairments.”
To ensure that as many opinions and perspectives as possible are heard, Paralympics Ireland has released a survey which is open to the public and encourages anyone who is invested in the Paralympic movement and disability sport to have their say.
“We’re aware that there are a lot of people who are invested in the Paralympic movement who aren’t directly connected to us on a daily basis, whether it be family, fans, past athletes, media, sponsors and so on. It’s important that everyone has the opportunity to give a view. If Jason Smyth comes along and says ‘this is where we’re going and everyone has to follow’, it doesn’t work. If everybody has the opportunity to feed into something and we all go on that journey together, that’s where success is created. It’s not what one person thinks, it’s as a collective.”
If you wish to have your say on the future of Paralympics Ireland, click HERE to fill out the survey.
