Eurolink News

MEPs unite to support Special Olympics (28/4/09)

April 28, 2009 at 5:05 pm Leave a comment

The search for vitally-needed funding for the Special Olympics has received a welcome boost this week, with news that the European Parliament has backed a motion supporting the organisation.
A majority of MEPs in Strasbourg signed a Written Declaration acknowledging the benefits of the Special Olympics for athletes and the wider community and called on the European Commission to continue funding the games.
‘This is a tremendous encouragement for the whole Special Olympics movement, which promotes inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in every EU member state,’ Mary Davis, Managing Director of Special Olympics Europe.
‘With EU support, we will be able to expand our year round training and support for athletes and their families, and ensure that the European Special Olympics in Warsaw in 2010 and the World Games in Athens in 2011 will be a great success.’
The Special Olympics is hoping the EU will provide €8 million towards covering the events in Warsaw and Athens, in line with funding given when Ireland hosted the last World Games in 2003.
The memory of those games is certainly special to the Irish MEPs, who were the first to sign the motion.
‘I do not recall anything as uplifting as the Special Olympics when they came to Dublin,’ said Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell. ‘The European Parliament recognises this unique Olympics and its inclusive role.’

Entry filed under: Children and the EU, Disability and the EU, Sport and the EU. Tags: .