Stormont chamber unites in sadness at loss of Olympian Ciara Mageean

The Stormont Assembly chamber has united to pay tribute to “extraordinary athlete and role model” Ciara Mageean.The European 1,500m champion runner and twice Olympian died early on Sunday at the age of 34 following a battle with cancer.Sadness and admiration for Mageean was expressed across Ireland, including by Irish President Catherine Connolly, following her passing.Mageean is set to be laid to rest in her home town of Portaferry, Co Down, on Tuesday following a funeral service.Speaker Edwin Poots led tributes in the Assembly on Monday, hailing Mageean’s great determination, strength of spirit and resilience, describing her as a “fantastic role model”.Mr Poots said: “I think we’re all deeply saddened to learn that she lost her battle with cancer that she fought in a very open way, and we thank her for that too.“Our sincerest sympathies are with her family at this time.”First Minister Michelle O’Neill described a “beautiful person inside and out”, and expressed her condolences to her family and friends.Ms O’Neill told MLAs: “Ciara’s achievements in athletics brought immense pride to herself, local community but people right across Ireland, and she was so courageous in her battle against cancer.“I only hope that her family can take some comfort from the outpouring of admiration, of respect and love of Ciara, she really was a champion of champions, may she forever be the star of the Co Down.”Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said Mageean was a “genuine inspiration to many”.During questions for his department later on Monday, SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan asked Mr Lyons to consider a fitting sporting legacy in Mageean’s honour.Read MoreMr Lyons responded: “I certainly join and concur with the words of Mr Durkan and I am more than happy to look at that, and to explore the ways in which we can honour her and ensure that she has a lasting legacy.“But I will say this, I think Ciara has already provided her own legacy because of the way in which she conducted herself both on and off the track, and the way in which she inspired so many people.“I doubt that we will be able to match that in any way, but I’m more than happy to work with others in due course to find a way in ensuring that that legacy and, indeed, her life can be honoured.”Earlier, DUP MLA Michelle McIlveen said Mageean was a “remarkable young woman, a sporting champion and a proud daughter of Portaferry” who was “destined for greatness”.“For the people of Portaferry, the wider Strangford constituency and Northern Ireland, this is an incredibly sad day,” she said.“Ciara brought enormous pride to her home town and inspired people far and wide. She was an extraordinary and gutsy athlete who will rightly be remembered in our sporting history.”Ciara Mageean was described as being an ‘extraordinary and gutsy’ athlete (Mike Egerton/PA)PA ArchiveAlliance MLA Kellie Armstrong said Portaferry will be “still tomorrow during Ciara’s funeral”.“Portaferry is one of those places where you’re related to everybody, and everybody knows who you are and everybody celebrates when somebody like Ciara Mageean has such victories,” she said.“She was blossoming into a fantastic athlete.“That love for Ciara and the love that Ciara had for Portaferry will now go to her family. We all think about them at this very sad time.”UUP MLA Mike Nesbitt expressed sadness at the loss of a “global figure”.He said she will be deeply missed and that she should be remembered for more than her sporting career, adding: “She was also one of the best of us as a human being.”SDLP MLA Justin McNulty described an “extraordinary athlete”.“We were so inspired by her determination, her work ethic and her tenacity as a competitor on the track,” he said.“There are moments in sport when your hair stands up on the back of your neck and Ciara’s gold medal-winning performance at the 2024 European championships in Rome was one of those moments.”Referring to Mageean’s reference to her background in camogie ensuring that she would not allow herself to be boxed in by other runners in her gold medal-winning run, Mr McNulty said that comment “struck a chord with all of us in the GAA”.“Everyone in the GAA family felt immense pride in what Ciara had achieved,” he added.“Ciara was a shining star of County Down and of Ireland. Her career as an athlete and her cancer battle showed us her heroism, she is a huge loss to Ireland.”TUV MLA Timothy Gaston described the tragedy of a young athlete being “cut down in their prime” by cancer.“In her young life, Ciara rose to the very pinnacle of athletics, winning gold at European level, silver at the Commonwealths and also took part twice in the Olympics, yet in spite of being one of the fittest athletes on earth, she like so many others, cut down in their prime by cancer,” he said.“My thoughts today are with her entire family, her friends and her colleagues in the sporting world.”