Ahern puts sporting prowess to Olympic test

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, indulged his interest in sports over the weekend when he visited Olympic Park, the site for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, and attended the final qualifying round of the Australian Grand Prix as the guest of Mr Eddie Jordan.

Mr Ahern received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Victoria University of Technology in Melbourne on Saturday. The Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, Dr Thomas Mitchell, received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

Continuing his official trip to Australia, the highlight of yesterday's programme was the visit by Mr Ahern and his partner, Ms Celia Larkin, to the 100,000-seat sports stadium at the magnificent Olympic Park in Homebush Bay. He showed such a keen interest in the multi-sports facility that he was even moved to do a sprint on the athletic track with the former Irish Olympic silver medallist and chief executive of the Irish Sports Council, Mr John Treacy.

Mindful of his promotion of the 80,000-seat Stadium Ireland, Mr Ahern was accompanied on his visit by the secretary-general of the Department of the Taoiseach, Mr Paddy Teahon, who will be in charge of the Stadium Ireland project on his retirement in May. Mr Teahon and Mr Treacy flew in from New Zealand on Saturday, where they had been assessing stadiums in that country.

The Sydney stadium, one of the best that Mr Treacy has seen over the years, cost 690 million Australian dollars, of which A$125 million was paid by the State. The Irish equivalent would be £345 million. The scale of Mr Ahern's stadium project can be judged by the fact that its projected cost is £280 million.

Mr Ahern and Ms Larkin were guests of motor racing's Mr Eddie Jordan at the qualifying session for the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday.

The Taoiseach visited the Jordan team pits after the race and he posed for photographs with the Jordan car, met the team drivers, Heinz Harald Frentzen and Jarno Trulli, and was told by Mr Jordan that "it's nice to have your own man, the Taoiseach of your country, here on such an occasion".

Earlier in Melbourne, Prof Jarlath Ronayne, vice-chancellor and president of Victoria University - uncle of Mr Michael Ronayne, who is adviser to the Minister for Arts, Culture, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera - presented the Taoiseach with his honorary degree. The citation said that the Taoiseach, "who being distinguished by outstanding public service, by his contribution both to the cause of peace in Ireland and to the contribution to his country's dynamic economic and industrial performance, is to be admitted to the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa".

In his introduction of Mr Ahern, Prof Ronayne said that the name of the party with which he had been so long associated, Fianna Fail, meant Soldiers of Destiny, "and the Ahern family is thought to have descended from the brother of the High King of Ireland, Brian Boru, and to have bred more than its share of tough warriors. As a courageous and unflinching leader in often difficult circumstances, Bertie Ahern has fully lived up to the reputation of his ancestry".

The citation to Dr Mitchell, first Catholic Provost of TCD, said that he was distinguished by his eminent contribution to classical learning, by his inspired leadership of one of the world's great universities, and by his dedication to the ideals, culture and values of an inclusive and responsive university system.

The Taoiseach and Ms Larkin were guests of honour at the Australia Ireland Society's St Patrick's Day gala dinner in Sydney on Saturday night. They attended a special peace Mass presided over by Cardinal Patrick Clancy and celebrated by the Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Dr David Cremin from Limerick, at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, yesterday.

Mr Ahern later announced that the Easts Leagues Club at Bondi Junction would be the Irish Olympic hospitality venue in Sydney.

A protest was mounted on the gates of the University of NSW by about 20 members of Youth Defence Australia as the Taoiseach arrived for a lecture there. They carried placards saying "Bertie, give the Irish people a pro-life referendum".

A spokesperson for the group said that they were not affiliated to Youth Defence. The literature they distributed, however, referred to the protest at the recent Fianna Fail Ardfheis which, their spokesman said, they had learned about on the Internet.