'Pure nostalgia' - Throwback pictures from the last time Ireland reached World Cup in 2002
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26 Mar 2026
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26 Mar 2026
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Claire Melia in action for Ireland. Photo: Inpho
Monasterevin's Claire Melia has been chosen to captain Ireland in Sunday’s FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers game against world number seven France.
Previous captain, Edel Thornton was forced to pull out due to a broken nose. University of Galway Mystics player Kara McCleane replaces her and is in line for her international debut. McCleane, who’s played with Ireland’s U20’s for the last two seasons, joined up with the senior squad on Wednesday evening.
Thornton picked up the injury playing for club side Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell in the MissQuote.ie Super League against The Address UCC Glanmire on October 29th. The 26-year-old was ruled out after a scan on Wednesday morning and Claire Melia now steps up as team captain for this weekend’s game.
Thornton said: “I’m naturally very disappointed to miss out on this game, as we’ve been building towards this for a number of months. Unfortunately the timeline to recover was against me, but I’ll be staying with the group throughout the week and I know that Claire Melia will do a great job leading the team onto the court on Sunday.”
Ireland head coach James Weldon added: “Losing your captain is a blow, but injuries are something all squads have to deal with and that is why we’ve worked hard to build our squad depth. Kara has come through the Ireland underage set-up and has been in excellent form for her club University of Galway Mystics in the MissQuote.ie Super League. Claire Melia leads by example and was the natural choice as captain for this France game.”
McCleane was previously called up for two international friendlies against Estonia in summer 2022, but didn’t feature on court and she’s excited about potentially making her senior debut against France. “I’m delighted to be called up to the squad, it would be a dream come true to make my international debut and I’ll be working hard in training to get myself ready for Sunday. James Weldon, his staff and the players have been so welcoming. I know plenty of the girls from the Estonia series and I’ve played with some them for Ireland at underage level and against them in the MissQuote.ie Super League, so that’s helped me settle in”, McCleane stated.
Ireland’s FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers game with France is live on TG4, tipping off at 5pm.
Group E Fixture:
Ireland v France, 1700, National Basketball Arena, Dublin, Live on TG4
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