The 26 members of Team Ireland have departed for the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria.

The delegation, which includes six skiers and two floorball teams, is Ireland's biggest ever representation at a World Winter Games.

The youngest member of the team, 13-year-old Caolan McConville from Co Antrim, only skied on snow for the first time earlier this year.

Floorball was a test event at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in 2013 and will be an official event this year.

It is a sport similar to ice hockey but played on a synthetic surface.

Ireland play Russia and Croatia in the first Round Robin draw on St Patrick's Day.

With 2,700 athletes drawn from 107 countries, the Special Olympics World Winter Games will be the largest sports and humanitarian event anywhere in the world in 2017.