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Travelled to the Georgian capital, six Irish Para Powerlifters will compete on Sunday 8th March and Monday 9th March.
On Sunday, representing Ireland will be Casey Fitzgerald, Niamh Buckley and Ruairi Devlin.
She will be in the Up to 73kg Category, starting in the early hours of the morning, Irish time (IST) at 5:30am.
Another athlete who had a record-breaking World Championships last autumn is Niamh Buckley. The Cork woman is in the Up to 61kg Category and aims to keep up the momentum toward qualifying for LA 2028. Buckley’s event will begin at 9:55am IST.
Rounding out the first day of competition for the Irish Para Powerlifters is another Cork native in Ruairi Devlin. Ruairi lifted 123kg the last time he competed on the international stage. He’ll be competing in the Up to 88kg Category, which gets underway at 12:05pm (IST).
On Monday 9th March the competition will see Irish athletes who are hoping to compete in their first Paralympic Games in 2028 and an athlete who took the world’s breath away in Paris 2024.
First in action on the Monday will be Dublin’s Michael O’Cearra in the Up to 80kg Category at 6:00am IST. This will be Michael’s third international competition, where he’ll be hoping to improve on his World Championship appearance where he failed to register a good lift.
A man with his eyes firmly fixed on reaching his first Paralympic Games in 2028, Sean Hughes will be hoping to take another step closer at 10:00am IST. In the Up to 97kg Category, he’ll be facing tough competition but after setting an Irish record and lifetime best at the World Championships, Hughes will be more than able to handle the competition.
The last of the Irish athletes competing will see the welcomed return of Britney Arendse. The European Championships will be the first international competition for the Para Powerlifter since finishing 4th at the Paralympic Games in Paris, 2024.
The Paralympian already returned to action at the Leinster Championships earlier this year and she’ll be in the Up to 86kg Category. Her competition will take place at 12:00pm IST.
First up for Ireland was Casey Fitzgerald. The Meath woman competed in a fiercely contested group in the Up to 73kg Category and had to be on form if she were to claim a medal in Tblisi.
Opening with a Lifetime Best attempt of 90kg, it was a fantastic start when three white lights were unveiled to confirm a good lift. Of course, we were treated to a jubilant celebration from Casey, which we’ve seen so many times since making her debut in 2023.
In round 2, the bar was set to 92kg as she aimed to quickly update her Lifetime Best. However, the press sequence was just off that the judges put up three red lights, meaning she’d have to try again in her final attempt.
With strong competition around her, Fitzgerald was hoping to creep into third place on her last attempt with another go at lifting 92kg. But it just wasn’t to be with the press sequence letting her down again.
Room for improvement for Casey with her next competition being the Irish Invitationals on June 27th in Cork. However, she can be proud with a new Lifetime Best and 4th place finish in Georgia.
At the more kinder time of 9:55am, Niamh Buckley was the next athlete to compete at the European Championships in Group B of the Up to 61kg Category.
In a strongly contested group, Niamh opened her competition with a positive start, with a lift of 73kg, 5kg below her Lifetime Best. It was on her second attempt with the bar racked at 76kg where she faltered. With no issues on the lift and stop sequence, it was an uneven press sequence that let her down.
Knowing she needed a big lift to stay in contention, Buckley had the bar set to 79kg for her final attempt. If succesful, it would have been a new Lifetime Best but two of the judges marked her down on the stop sequence.
A smirk on Niamh’s face as she left the stage was telling, knowing the weight was achievable. Coach, Roy Guerin submitted a Lift Challenge in the hopes the result would be overturned but with a stop sequence that was too short, the decision remained.
At the end of the round, the MTU Tralee student finished 2nd in Group B. After the completion of Group A, Niamh finished in 8th place overall.
Another Cork native in action, Ruairi Devlin closed out the first day of Irish athletes in action. Ruairi was competing in the Up to 88kg Category in the Georgian capital.
Ruairi started comfortably, getting off the mark with ease lifting 120kg. Into round 2, he aimed to smash his Lifetime Best of 123kg set at the World Championships in October 2025 by 5kg. With the bar set to 127kg, the Cork man cleared it with no issues, followed by an emphatic celebration as he basked in his achievement.
For his third and final attempt, Devlin was aiming to take the lead in Total Lift with a goal of lifting 130kg. Unfortunately, it proved too much as he failed to raise the bar back up and was marked down on the press sequence.
A 5th place finish in Group B for Ruairi with a total lift of 237kg and a best lift of 127kg. In the end it was a 12th place finish for Devlin.
Dublin’s Michael O’Cearra kicked off the second day of competition for Irish Para Powerlifters. Competing in the Up to 80kg Category, the Ballybrack Bulls Wheelchair Basketballer was hoping for a better outing compared to his World Championships appearance back in October. It was at that competition where he was unable to register a successful lift.
Michael started his competition with a lift of 118kg, 2kg below his Lifetime Best. Easing his way into the Championships, he got himself on the board with a good lift.
In round 2, the Hyrox World Champion was aiming for a new Lifetime Best with a lift of 122kg. A smooth lift was acknowledged with three white lights from the judges, keeping Michael right in the thick of the ranks of his category.
For his final lift, O’Cearra looked to quickly update his Lifetime Best with an attempted lift of 126kg. It looked good to the untrained eye but the judges kept Michael and spectators waiting in anticipation for their verdict.
But it was a sigh of and celebrations from the travelling Irish in the audience when three white lights finally lit up. A fantastic effort from the Dublin native saw Michael sit in 4th place in Group B at the end of the round and third for total lift. By the time his category was completed, it was a 12th place finish in a stacked category.
Meath’s own, Sean Hughes competed in the Up to 97kg Category on Monday. Hughes last outing on the International stage was the World Championships in Cairo, Egypt. Whilst there, he set a new Irish Record and Lifetime Best, lifting 160kg.
Hughes opened up his European Championships competition with an attempt at 158kg. Starting comfortably to get his campaign underway, receiving three white lights from the judges.
Hoping to do better than his best lift at the World Championships, Hughes was looking to lift 161kg on his second attempt. A clean and controlled attempt was rewarded with all three judges deeming it a good lift.
The final attempt for Sean was for a new Lifetime Best of 164kg. If successful then it would have him top of the total lift standings for the time being until the Group B athletes got underway and aim to shake things up.
But Hughes’ form wasn’t to be reckoned with, fantastic composure throughout all his lifts, it was another succesful one for the Meath man and a new Lifetime Best in the books. That lift brought hist total to 483kg. In the end it was a 6th place finish overall and 4th place in Total Lift, an incredible outing for Hughes.
Finally back on the international stage after 18 months away from Para Powerlifting, Britney Arendse competed in the Up to 86kg Category. This marked Arendse’s first international appearance since the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where she finished 4th.
Arendse started her competition with a lift of 118kg. Despite looking uneven during the press sequence, it was still a good lift to get up and running.
Round 2 saw Britney move up with the bar loaded to 121kg. And with three white lights, that confirmed that with one lift to go, she was gauranteed a medal.
To decide what medal Britney would be adding to her impressive collection, the two-time Paralympian had planned for the bar to be set to 124kg. But in a last-minute discussion with her Coach, Roy Guerin they decided to raise the stakes and go for 126kg in an attempt to guarantee a silver medal in the Total Lift.
However, the time away from the sport showed as the lift was halted by the chief referee during the press sequence.
But after 18 months away, Britney returned with a bang, sealing a bronze medal overall and in Total Lift.
| Para Powerlifting European Championships – Tblisi, Georgia 7-10 March 2026 | ||||
| Athlete | Competition | Date | Category | Result |
| Casey Fitzgerald | Elite | 08/03/2026 | Up to 73kg | Lifetime Best 90kg | 4th place Overall |
| Niamh Buckley | Elite | 08/03/2026 | Up to 61kg | One lift 70kg | 8th place Overall |
| Ruairi Devlin | Elite | 08/03/2026 | Up to 88kg | Lifetime Best 127kg | 12th place Overall |
| Michael O’Cearra | Elite | 09/03/2026 | Up to 80kg | 2x Lifetime Best 126kg | 12th place Overall |
| Sean Hughes | Elite | 09/03/2026 | Up to 97kg | Lifetime Best 164kg | 6th place Overall, 4th place Total Lift |
| Britney Arendse | Elite | 09/03/2026 | Up to 86kg | Bronze medal in Overall and Total Lift |
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