Sporting highs - Limerick can match Brazil

Contrasting sporting events of immense significance to all those involved take place today at opposite sides of the globe.

In Brazil, the football World Cup, one of the biggest spectacles of its kind, kicks off tonight. And in Limerick, 1,500 athletes from every part of the country will today be the stars at the launch of Special Olympics Ireland Games.

A veritable army of 3,000 volunteers worked tirelessly to make the Limerick games the best ever. Following today’s opening ceremony, generously supported by Limerick City of Culture 2014, an involvement that deserves to be applauded, the athletes will tomorrow start competing in Ireland’s special spectacle of sport.