The athlete won silver and bronze medals at this summer's Paralympics Games

PARALYMPIAN Róisín Ní Ríain has been named Limerick Person of the Month for her incredible achievements in the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.

Receiving the award for the second time, Róisín said it was “such an honour,” adding that “it really does mean so so much”.

Róisín first received the title of Limerick Person of the Month in 2021, after her first Paralympics in Tokyo.

The 19 year-old explained that “the support has been great, from everybody - from friends, from family, from people who I don’t even know, it’s been so so good”.

The love and support of her family, who have previously told the Limerick Leader that they are “so incredibly proud” of her, means a lot to Róisín: “For them to be able to come out and watch me in Paris and then to be able to come home to all the wonderful support that I’ve had, support that I didn’t even know that I had, it’s something that’s really really special”.

The Drombanna native earned both silver and bronze medals in the Paralympics, in the 100m S13 backstroke and the 200m SM13 individual medley categories, respectively.

She narrowly missed out on earning more medals in the La Défense Arena this August, placing fourth in both S13 100m butterfly and SB13 100m breaststroke finals.

The paralympian is currently in her second year of studying science at the University of Limerick, and balances her academic work with a gruelling training schedule that can include up to nine training sessions a week at the height of the season.

She is the current World Para Swimming Champion in the 100m Backstroke and also holds the World Record in the 200m backstroke, which she set in 2023.

Having first started swimming at only four years old, Róisín was previously the youngest athlete for Ireland at the Tokyo Paralympics at the age of 16.

The Limerick Person of the Month award is sponsored by the Limerick Leader, media agency Southern and the Clayton Hotel.