Racist abuse directed at Irish Paralympian Registe

Dungannon swimmer Deaten Registe finished sixth in the SB14 100m breaststroke final as he made his Paralympics debut in Paris

Paralympics Ireland has revealed online racist abuse was directed at County Tyrone swimmer Deaten Registe during the Paris Games.

The 20-year-old finished sixth in the SB14 100m breaststroke final at his first Paralympics.

Paralympics Ireland informed Registe's mother about the online racist abuse in the build-up to last Monday's final.

Registe was not aware of the issue prior to his final.

"It is just not acceptable and I think everyone in Ireland would support that," Paralympics Ireland chief executive Stephen McNamara told RTE.

"We have spoken to the athlete and the athlete's family, and we don't want that to happen again."

The Paralympics Ireland chief admitted "we can't guarantee it won't happen again".

"But what we have seen across the whole Games is such a huge swell of support for all of our athletes," he added.

Registe, who has an intellectual disability, made his first international appearance for Ireland at the European Para Swimming Open Championships in Madeira in April.