Olympic torch set for border crossing

DUBLIN football fans turned out in their tens of thousands in Merrion Square on Monday night to welcome their All-Ireland heroes and the President of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), Pat Hickey, is hoping for a repeat crowd to celebrate the arrival of the Olympic Torch Relay on June 6 next year.

It will be a historic event in the history of Irish sport and plans for the visit, which will include a symbolic crossing of the Border before heading for Dublin, were revealed yesterday by the President of the OCI.

“I have been working on this for four years and, I must admit, it was like walking on nettles at times because one had to be very careful to respect everybody concerned,” he said.

“We got great support from the First Minister, Peter Robinson, the Second Minister, Martin McGuinness, and their respective sports ministers in the North. We engaged everybody, the mayors, the schools, the clubs, because we wanted to do something that was absolutely correct.

“I chaired a meeting in Dublin six weeks ago with the assistant commissioner of An Garda Síochána, the assistant commissioner of the PSNI and the assistant commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police who have the overall responsibility for the security of the torch.

“June 6 is the day earmarked for the crossing of the Border and the relay around Dublin. The Border ceremony will be early in the morning with all the schools from Newry and Dundalk and all the local clubs — boxing clubs, athletic clubs — all with just Olympic flags and no other colours of any kind.

“We are planning a symbolic crossing possibly involving the (Barcelona silver and gold medallists) Wayne McCullagh and Michael Carruth and some of the current athletes like Paddy Barnes and somebody from the Republic before it will go to Dublin.”

The Dublin part of the torch relay will begin with a ceremonial start outside the OCI headquarters in Howth before moving to the Garden of Remembrance and circumnavigating the city before going back into Merrion Square.

“We will have a huge ceremony in Merrion Square in the exact spot where the Dubs celebrated on Monday night and, hopefully, with as big a crowd with the torch being lit,” Hickey said.

“We have done nothing yet about selecting torch bearers for the Dublin area but I was delighted to see one rule that LOCOG have — no politician can run with the torch nor relations of a politician and I will add to it that nobody from the OCI can run with the torch except our Chef de Mission,Sonia O’Sullivan.