Heroes' welcome awaits Olympic stars

Ireland's Olympic stars will return home to a heroes' welcome tomorrow with medal winning boxers taking centre stage.

Ireland's Olympic stars will return home to a heroes' welcome tomorrow with the medal-winning boxers taking centre stage.

Hundreds of fans are expected to greet the team when they arrive at Dublin Airport in the evening, but authorities warned well-wishers of limited space.

"We would ask people to bear in mind that there is limited capacity in the Arrivals Halls for large volumes of people," a spokeswoman said.

"In addition, normal passenger operations will be continuing at the same time."

The Olympic Council of Ireland will host a special homecoming celebration for the team at the airport with Sports Minister Martin Cullen and the Chinese Ambassador attending.

A lone piper will then escort the team through the airport where they will met by scores of family and friends.

Huge cheers are in store for boxers Kenny Egan, Darren Sutherland and Paddy Barnes, who each won a medal during the Beijing games.

Neilstown native Egan had to settle for silver after he was beaten by home favourite Zhang Xiaoping in a closely fought battle on Sunday.

Belfast fighter Paddy Barnes and Navan man Darren Sutherland walked away with bronze medals after commendable performances earlier in the week.