European indoor silver medallist Mark English, Irish 400m hurdles record-holder Thomas Barr (Ferrybank AC) and Irish national champion Kelly Proper spearhead a strong Irish team for the European Athletics Team Championships, the team for which has been announced.
The competition takes place in Heraklion in Greece next week, from 20th-21st June.
Ireland will be up against competitors from Greece, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland and Turkey.
The Irish team placed seventh in this event last year when the competition was held in Tallinn, Estonia. The top three countries at the end of the two-day competition will gain promotion to the super league in 2016.
Barr currently sits top of the European rankings in the 400m hurdles after setting a new Irish record of 48.65 seconds at the Diamond League meeting in Rome on 4 June.
The second and third-ranked athletes, Kariem Hussein (Switzerland) and Rasmus Magi (Estonia) are set to compete in Crete, making the men’s 400m hurdles likely to be one of the races of the weekend.
English (UCD AC), currently ranked eighth in Europe with a time of (1.45.83), goes in the 800m. With none of the athletes ahead of him competing in the first league meet in Crete, English will be quietly confident of securing maximum points.
Proper is selected in the 200m after an encouraging time of 23.26 seconds in Geneva earlier this month.
2015 European Indoor 1500m finalist John Travers (Donore Harriers AC) goes in the 3,000m event, and fellow Prague teammate Adam McMullen (Crusaders AC) lines up in the long jump.
The action gets under way in Crete on Saturday at 2pm, Irish time with the men’s hammer, and concludes on Sunday, with the 4x400m relay at 6.24pm.
| Event | Name | Club |
| Men's | ||
| 100m | Marcus Lawler | St Laurence O Tooles AC |
| 200m | Marcus Lawler | St Laurence O Tooles AC |
| 400m | Brian Gregan | Clonliffe Harriers AC |
| Discus | Colin Quirke | Crusaders AC |
| Hammer | Dempsey McGuigan | Finn Valley AC |
| Javelin | Rory Gunning | Fr Murphy AC |
| 4 x 100m Relay Squad | Marcus Lawler | St Laurence O Tooles AC |
| Jonathan Browning | BAAC | |
| Keith Pike | Clonliffe Harriers | |
| Eanna Madden | Carrick on Shannon AC | |
| Kieran Elliott | Sligo AC | |
| 4 x 400m Relay Squad | Brian Gregan | Clonliffe Harriers |
| Richard Morrissey | Crusaders AC | |
| Craig Lynch | Shercock AC | |
| Mark English | UCD AC | |
| Thomas Barr | Ferrybank AC | |
| Womens | ||
| 100m | Amy Foster | City Of Lisburn AC |
| 200m | Kelly Proper | Ferrybank AC |
| 400m | Sinead Denny | DSD AC |
| 800m | Ciara Everard | UCD AC |
| 1500m | Kerry O'Flaherty | Newcastle and District AC |
| 3000m | Sarah Treacy | Dunboyne AC |
| 5000m | Maria McCambridge | DSD AC |
| 3k SC | Michelle Finn | Leevale AC |
| 100mH | Sarah Lavin | UCD AC |
| 400mH | Christine McMahon | Ballymena and Antrim AC |
| High Jump | Megan Tice | Finn Valley AC |
| Long Jump | Sarah McCarthy | Mid-Sutton A.C. |
| Triple Jump | Sarah Buggy | St Abbans AC |
| Pole Vault | Tori Pena | Finn Valley AC |
| Shot Putt | Clare Fitzgerald | Tralee Harriers AC |
| Discus | Clare Fitzgerald | Tralee Harriers AC |
| Hammer | Emma O'Hara | GCH AC |
| Javelin | Anita Fitzgibbon | DSD AC |
| 4 x 100m Relay Squad | Amy Foster | City Of Lisburn AC |
| Sarah Lavin | UCD AC | |
| Phil Healy | Bandon AC | |
| Catherine McManus | Dublin City Harriers AC | |
| Steph Creanor | Dublin City Harriers AC | |
| 4 x 400m Relay Squad | Sinead Denny | DSD AC |
| Ciara Everard | UCD AC | |
| Ciara McCallion | Clonliffe Harriers | |
| Christine McMahon | Ballymena and Antrim AC | |
| Aisling Drumgoole | Raheny Shamrock AC |
