History & Profile

On Saturday 26th November 1988, at an open meeting at Dublin’s North Star Hotel, Irish Blind Sports was born.

Organised sport for blind and visually impaired in Ireland can be traced back to the 1920’s and the playing fields and halls of St. Josephs’s and St. Mary’s Schools for the Blind (both in Dublin).

From the mid-1970’s a worldwide appetite grew for organised international sport for people with visual disability. In April 1979 Ireland’s first national sports club for blind and visually impaired was formed. In October of the same year the Sports and Social Club of the National League of the Blind took over the reins.

Irish Blind Sports (IBS) is the National Governing Body (NGB) for sport and leisure activities for blind and visually impaired people in Ireland.

IBS caters for the competitive and recreational needs of its members. Participation, whether for relaxation, recreation or simply overcoming personal and private challenges, enables people to improve their quality of life in a healthy, active, social and fun-filled environment.

IBS is the NGB for blind and visually impaired athletes in some competitive sports and is affiliated to the International Blind Sports Association (IBSA) and to the Paralympic Council of Ireland (PCI). It collaborates with other bodies involved in Disability Sports, including the Irish Wheelchair Association Sport section, Cerebral Palsy Sport, the FAI, Irish Cycling and Rowing Unions, Swim Ireland etc.

IBS is funded principally by the Irish Sports Council, the National Council for the Blind and from our own fundraising efforts.

IBS is run by a fully elected Board of Directors.

Sight Classification

The International Blind Sport Association provide a process by which athletes are assessed and assigned a classification according to how reduced their vision is. This is intended to ensure that athletes are able to compete against other athletes of similar visual impairment. The process is one that is constantly changing – for instance Paralympic and IBSA classes are largely the same in terms of visual impairment but are named differently.

Currently there are three Classes for competitive Sports.
All classifications will be in best eye with best correction.

B1

From no light perception in either eye up to light perception, but an inability to recognise the shape of a hand at any distance or in any direction.

B2

From an ability to recognise the shape of a hand up to a visual acuity of 2/60 and/or monocular visual field of less than 5 degrees.

B3

From visual acuity above 2/60 to visual acuity of 6/60 and/or monocular visual field of more than 5 degrees and less than 20 degrees.

NE

Not eligible – visual acuity over 6/60 and monocular visual field of more than 20 degrees

Sport for Blind/Visually Impaired in Ireland - The Story So Far

1978 -2011

The chronological evolution of organised national and international sport for the blind and visually impaired in Ireland is as follows:

1978
September: Six Irish athletes participate in UK Track and Field Championships for the Blind and Visually Impaired at the Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland.

1979
April: First National Sports Club for the Blind in Ireland formed in Dublin
October: New sports club merges with long established organisation to become the Sports and Social Club of the National League of the Blind of Ireland. Weekly swimming classes begin and continue to this day.

1980
June: Two blind/visually impaired Irish athletes- Pat Kelly – (Limerick¬) and Martin Kelly (Kildare) – participate in Paralympic Games, Anhem, Netherlands.

1981
May: The first Irish National Championships for the blind/visually impaired is held in Dublin. Swimming and athletics competitions take place at the Irish Life Complex and the Morton Stadium. Championships have since become colloquially known as the May Games.
August: First Irish athletics and swimming team take part in European Games, Fulda, West Germany. Medals: 1 gold, 1 bronze.
October: Weekly athletics sessions begin and continue to this day.

1983
August: Blind/visually impaired gather at Dublin’s Phoenix Park for inaugural tandem cycle tour.

1984
June: Seven blind/visually impaired athletes participate at Paralympic Games, New York, USA. Medals: 1 gold (400m, Carol Carr, Dublin); 3 bronze (400m and 1500m Pat Kelly, Limerick; 400m, Fintan O’Donnell, Limerick).

1985
May: Irish Braille Chess Association founded in Dublin following success at 7th Braille Chess Olympiad in Benidorm, Spain. Members first participated at Braille Chess Olympiad 21 years previously in Hlungspornn, East Germany.
July: Irish tandem cycling team competes in prologue to grand finale of Tour de France, Paris, France. Medals: 1 gold.
October: Inaugural Irish Braille Chess Association Open International Tournament takes place at National League of the Blind headquarters, Gardiner Place, Dublin.

1987
Irish Paralympic Council is founded.
1988
November: Writer and broadcaster Liam Nolan chairs open meeting in Dublin’s North Star Hotel where it is agreed to form new national governing body for sport for blind/visually impaired in Ireland.

1989
March: Irish Blind Sports Ltd – club name Irish BlindSports – is officially formed. Liam Nolan is appointed President.
April: Sportslink – the bi-monthly bulletin of Irish BlindSports – is launched.

1990
November: Olympic 1500m gold medallist Ronnie Delaney opens the conference at the Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise, which ultimately launches the Killeshin Report – BlindSports Blueprint for the ‘90’s.

1991
The Irish Blind Golf Society founded with assistance from the Northern Ireland Blind Golf Society.

1992
September: Two blind/visually impaired judo players join with our track and field team at Paralympic Games, Barcelona, Spain. Medals: 2 silver (discus and pentathlon, Bridie Lynch, Donegal).

1993
September: Irish BlindSports host 6th European Athletics Championships for the Blind, under auspices of the International Blind Sports Association (IBSA) at Belfield, Dublin. More than 300 athletes from 23 nations participate. An Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, TD performs the official opening. President Mary Robinson attends a special presidential ceremony.

1996
September: Equestrian becomes the third Paralympic sport to be represented by Irish blind/visually impaired at the 1996 Paralympic Games, Atlanta, USA. Medals: 1 gold (discus, Bridie Lynch, Donegal) 2 bronze. ( Equestrian, Joan Salmon (Dublin); pentathlon, Bridie Lynch, Donegal).

1999
Irish BlindSports member Ann Lyster becomes Chairperson of Irish Paralympic Council.

2000
October: Blind/visually impaired judo and athletics represented at Paralympic Games, Sydney, Australia. Medals: 1 bronze ( pentathlon, Catherine Walsh, Dublin).

2001
January: Irish BlindSports member Tony Guest becomes first President of Irish Paralympic Council.

2002
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) officially recognises and adopts Futsal – football for blind/visually impaired. Five years later official Irish caps awarded and Ireland beat England in official international.

2003
April: IBS launch strategic plan The Vision to Enable Sports 2003-2007. Fred Cogley is elected President of Irish BlindSports and succeeds Liam Nolan who retires to Loughrea, Co. Galway.

2004
October: Blind/visually impaired judo and athletics represented at Paralympic Games, Athens, Greece.

2005
At height of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger Irish Blind Sports now have a full time office, compliments of NCBI, in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin where two/three part time staff are employed.

2007
A period when old sports are resurrected and new sports emerge including angling, tenpin bowling, rowing and goalball as well as competitive tandem cycling and swimming.

2008
September: Two tandem cyclists and one swimmer bring to five the total number of Paralympic sports, to date, represented by blind/visually impaired. Jason Smith (Derry) gives Ireland and Irish BlindSports greatest individual fetes to date with sprint double gold in double World Record times.

2009
July: Irish Blind Sports athlete Jason Smith wins Athletics Ireland Irish National Championships 100m.
September: Due to rapidly deteriorating economic conditions Irish BlindSports ceases to employing staff. However, Dun Laoghaire office remains open.October: IBS launch Forward Vision Strategic Plan 2009-2012.
November: Informal re-union of those involved in organised sport for the blind/visually impaired –’78-09 – takes place at Wynnes Hotel, Dublin.

2010
May: 30th Anniversary May Games take place in North Dublin and attract wide interest from old and new members.
June: Fred Cogley retires as President of Irish Blind Sports; Colm Murray is elected new President.
2011
May: Irish Blind Sports move office to central Dublin, employ part time office manager Pam Robinson.

Board of Directors

2011-2012

The Board of Directors of Irish Blind Sports, as elected at the AGM of 28th May 2011, is as follows:

Michael Clarke (Chairperson),
Eugene Delaney,
Roisin Dermody,
Robert Dobbyn (Assistant Chairperson),
George Hellis,
Ann Lyster,
Tony Lyster,
Sarah McLoughlin,
Fintan O’Donnell..

Irish Blind Sports Logo

The familiar green, white and black Irish Blind Sports logo is the creation of our Treasuer, Tony Lyster.

For many years Tony was Graphics Manager at Golden Pages, Now, Tony is Studio Manager of ad2020 where he specialises in coaching graphic design and Microsoft Applications.

Tony Lyster is a founder member of Irish Blind Sports (IBS). He was first Vice Chairperson, later Chairperson and has also worked as the orgnaisation’s Secretary, Treasurer and PRO.