The baggage carousels at Dublin Airport came to a halt yesterday as baggage-handlers joined builders, airline clerks, passengers and hundreds of members of the public to welcome home 39 Irish heroes.
Two members of the Army's 5th Battalion pipe band led Ireland's Paralympic team through the last few minutes of their 25-hour journey home from Sydney. Neighbours, friends, family and colleagues waited in their hundreds, each bedecked in either an Irish flag or a green-and-gold T-shirt or carrying a bunch of flowers - or all three.
There was a burst of emotion which and a surge forward as the team emerged. Specially erected barriers and a light Garda presence were no deterrent.
A member of the Aer Rianta public relations staff said: "I have never seen anything like it. In all my years working here there have been some welcomes but this leaves a lump in your throat."
The 39 athletes brought five gold, three silver and one bronze medal with them from Sydney.
Mairead Berry (25), from Coolock, Dublin, who has cerebral palsy, brought home three medals for swimming. She took silver in the 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle and gold in the 100m freestyle.
"It's just unbelievable," she said, "I still don't know what to say."
David Malone (23), from Ballinteer in Dublin, had both legs amputated as a child due a bone condition. Though "more nervous" than he had ever been going into the finals, he took gold in the 100 metres backstroke.
He encountered prejudice in earlier years against his swimming. "But I never let anything like that be an obstacle to me," he said. His grandfather, Henry Malone, was there to welcome him home. He had been unable to join the rest of the family in Sydney, but had watched David's race on television. "He has won everything he ever set out to," he said as David was whisked away for another interview. "It's no bother to him. So, when he was in this race, I had a feeling he'd come first."
Others who were there for the party were Mr Pat Hickey, chief executive of the Irish Olympic Council; Mr John Treacy, chief executive of the Irish Sports Council; the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dr McDaid - who promised a party for the team at Government Buildings in the near future - the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mr Maurice Ahern; and the Minister of State for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Mr Eoin Ryan.
Mr Treacy said the Paralympians had shown us sport at its best. "What these athletes have achieved is awe-inspiring and I really feel that this team's triumph is a lesson to us all. We all have every right to be very proud today," he said.
