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IrelandDavid Gillick remembers Ciara Mageean's fierce pride in Irish vest
RTÉ News adds Gillick's reaction to tributes for the European champion, whose death aged 34 was confirmed in a statement on her Instagram account.
RTÉ News
Story of Why this story? One of RTÉ News's most watched videos since yesterday, with 17,446 views.
Irish Olympian and European champion Ciara Mageean dies aged 34 | RTÉ News
Things we can learn from the video
Press to jump
- 0:00RTÉ News announces Mageean's death aged 34 from cancer.
- 0:46Conor Macauley traces her Portaferry roots and European 1500m gold in Rome in 2024.
- 2:05Mageean explains her pride in representing Ireland, her hometown and her county in archive interviews.
- 3:22David Gillick reflects on the news, her competitive determination and her European championship victory.
David Gillick struggles to absorb the news. "It's a bit surreal, if I'm honest. It's hard to understand, it's hard to believe," the former Olympian tells RTÉ News after the death of Ciara Mageean.
The broadcaster reports that the Irish middle-distance runner died from cancer, with a statement on her Instagram account confirming she was surrounded by loved ones. Mageean had made her diagnosis of stage four bowel cancer public in July 2025.
Alongside the archive-led sporting tribute, this report adds Gillick's account of a competitor whose commitment to representing Ireland defined her racing. "She was a fierce competitor, she represented her country with absolute pride," he says.
Conor Macauley's retrospective follows Mageean from Portaferry, County Down, to European 1500m gold in Rome in 2024. Sports commentator George Hamilton recalls recognising her promise when she emerged at the 2010 indoor championships. Micheál Martin and Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly also pay tribute.
The archive gives Mageean space to explain that pride herself. "I'm here to race for the Irish vest, and everybody back home, my country, my hometown, my county," she says. "I feel so fortunate to be in a position to be out there representing them."
An Irish track and field athlete specialising in the 400 metres. He won European indoor titles in 2005 and 2007.
More on Wikipedia ›An Irish middle-distance runner who specialised in the 1500 metres. She won European gold in 2024, becoming Ireland’s first individual European athletics champion since Sonia O’Sullivan.
More on Wikipedia ›Ireland’s prime minister, known as the Taoiseach, since January 2025. He leads the Fianna Fáil party and previously served as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022.
More on Wikipedia ›First Minister of Northern Ireland since February 2024 and vice president of Sinn Féin since 2018. She previously served as deputy First Minister.
More on Wikipedia ›Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister since February 2024. A barrister and Democratic Unionist Party politician, she represents Lagan Valley in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
More on Wikipedia ›Published on Trari
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- Channel
- RTÉ News
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- Channel views, last 7 days
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- Video published
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- Video views so far
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The numbers
RTÉ News's report has drawn about 17,000 views since yesterday, the largest audience among its new uploads over that period.
