About Eimear Breathnach

Eimear Breathnach, a UCD BComm graduate, is decompressing. She is just a few months back from the Paralympic Games in Paris, and already she is looking toward the next games in LA in 2028. As President of Paralympics Ireland, she describes the games themselves as fantastic and she is hopeful the next iteration can be even better.

Her own term as president is ending soon, so she may be attending LA as a spectator, but that is fine, she says, as nothing compares with the pressure of being a participant, and Breathnach should know, as she competed in previous paralympics as a table tennis player in Bejiing and London.

Breathnach, who was injured in dreadful accident when she was just 17 in Co Galway, admits time waits for no one when it comes to big sporting events like a paralympics and with wild fires burning up areas surrounding Los Angeles, planning is already underway in relation to the next event. She says the organisation and impact of each paralympics is different and sometimes its a case of going one step back to go two steps forward etc.

“We’ve progressed quite significantly, kind of between, say, 2004 and 2012, and then probably slipped a little bit backwards. But then we've pushed forward again, which is great, and but from a world point of view it largely depends on the hosts,” she explains. She says Paralympics Ireland are already planning their first trip out to Los Angeles and getting people on the ground is vital.

As president in Paris she was responsible for making sure dignitaries like Taoiseach Simon Harris were able to attend, see the athletes and sample first hand the impact the event has. Asked what the role of President is like at such events, she says: “Its the background stuff that is really, really important, that maybe athletes don't see because they're busy kinda training and competing in the village”. As a highly successful table tennis player in her own right, Breathnach admits while being president has been very enjoyable, there are parts of being an athlete she misses. “I miss the training and I miss structure. I like structure. I like being prepared, and the eating and all that kind of stuff, I really miss that, but I don't miss the competition,” she explains.

Now living in Tipperary, Breathnach is preparing to take a time out once her term as president ends. “It's time to move on and let other people take it forward,” she says. Breathnach played sport before the accident which she suffered aged 17, but was determined to play afterwards too. At various stages she has taken on wheelchair rugby, athletics, shotput, javelin and discus. While she is overjoyed to see the visibility and acclaim given to Ireland’s leading paralympians, she is also realistic, realising that this is just one group within the wider disability community and also realising that the acclaim can be slightly tokenistic, particularly when viewed from the perspective of ordinary humdrum life.

“I was in the supermarket last year, and just reaching for something out of the freezer, and some guy stopped me. He's like, ‘oh you're fabulous, I've seen you before, Jesus you should be in the Olympics’. It's like, oh, my God would you seriously walk up to any other person in a shopping center and go, ‘oh you should be in the Olympics because you're doing your own shopping like,” she says.

But she acknowledges as we talk in 2025 the picture is mixed in relation to disabled sport. “There is a lot more respect for para athletes now, and a lot more understanding of what it takes to be a para athlete in the sporting world and their sporting environment. So, we just need to keep pushing that message and keep branching out and advocating for those athletes - that they're athletes first in their own right’’.

She says while Ireland, and other countries, may enjoy watching para athletes for a time every four years, there are wider systemic issues that need to be faced up to too. For example, the low level of employment for disabled workers in the Irish economy more broadly. She describes this as ‘shocking’ at a time when Ireland is at effective full employment.

As for her time in UCD, Breathnach says it was a mixture of challenge and enjoyment.

“I was happy enough there, but I did find it difficult, just being in Commerce with like with over 300 people. I don't know what the buildings are like now, but then we had a little kind of room. So, you were separated from everyone else in the lecture hall. So that was kind of quite isolating, kind of difficult. It's hard enough to meet people when you're in a class 300 people. But then to be on your own, that was kind of difficult. But the people I did get to know, like we're all lovely, and most of my friends were the year ahead of me, so I would kind of know a lot of them as well and a lot of their friends, which was good. The lecturers were always good if I needed any help but I did find it tiring, it’s such a big campus”. Thankfully UCD Disability services were able to assist when possible. “Yeah, they were really good. John Bennett was there at the time, and he was, you know, he was very good”.

She says UCD is no different to any other large organisation catering for disabled users, with many wanting to be ‘inclusive’, but not necessarily thinking deeply enough about how this can be brought about. She says things like hotels and concert venues are classic examples of this. “So, I think hopefully, that's starting to change,” she says.

Getting away from purely ‘box ticking’ would be one way for change to happen. For too many organisations, just providing the legal minimum for disabled users and patrons, is seen as the goal, not something more. “For example, entering a building, I'd rather not go in the back door by the bins! I'd like to go in the front door, kind of with everyone else,” she points out.

 As for her chosen field/discipline at UCD, Commerce, she adopted a dual approach. “I enjoyed aspects of it. I didn't enjoy the accounting aspect (and I thought I would). I did banking, finance and insurance in the 3rd year, and I did really enjoy the insurance aspect of it”. It was this field of insurance that she eventually entered, working with FBD for 11 years as an underwriter, a job that allowed her to compete in table tennis and do all the training needed to become an elite paralympian. She says an appreciation of risk was key for the role, rather just statistical skills.

Asked if she optimistic about the future for para sports in Ireland, her answer is a subtle one, pointing to the barriers to disabled sport, but also pointing out these barriers are in place in general society too. “The same barriers that stop people getting involved in sports are the same barriers that stop them getting involved in employment and education, and so just if we could knock them all down,” she points out. She adds that it can be ‘exhausting’ when you are dealing with the same issue all the time, in its many different guises.

 “It's just day after day after day, like I was out for Christmas, and I was in a restaurant, and this just as an example, I couldn't get into the bathroom because there were chairs in the way. And there's another family, and they're like, Oh, my God, that's so bad! That's awful. But if I got annoyed about this, I would get annoyed every single time I leave the house. So there it is. You just have to just go with it, take a deep breath and say there are worse things that can happen,” she explains.

Reflecting on your time at UCD, what experience stands out as particularly impactful or memorable?

To be honest, the most memorable experience of UCD is that it was quite isolating. While the buildings were accessible they weren't inclusive. That was 25 years ago and I barely recognise the place now so I hope the buildings are more accessible now. 

Panel

Is there a particular book or song you have carried with you for much of your life?

The Dance by Garth Brooks. We all experience highs and lows throughout our lives but we can't appreciate the highs without experiencing the lows. 

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received, funny or serious?

To believe in myself and sh*t happens.

What's a hobby or activity you've always wanted to try but haven't gotten around to yet?

I'd like to try skiing but not a fan of the cold!!

If you could have a conversation with any historical figure, who would it be and what would you ask that person?

Mahatma Gandhi - how does he feel about the pace of change and the improvements (or lack of) in civil rights.

January 2025