A Jubilee baton which will be used in the opening ceremony of next month's Commonwealth Games will today arrive in Belfast.
The baton, which will be handed over to the organisers of the Games as they get under way in Manchester, will arrive in Belfast International Airport to begin the final leg of its 63,000-mile journey around the world.
The beacon has visited 24 Commonwealth nations during an 87-day, 60,000-mile journey, since it set off from Buckingham Palace in London in the hands of several celebrity runners on March 11th.
It is the world's first hi-tech interactive baton, which converts the heartbeat of relay runners into blades of flashing light.
Chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation Mr Mike Hooper, who will be accompanying the baton to Belfast, said the relay has highlighted the unity and diversity of the Commonwealth.
"The baton has generated tremendous excitement in each nation it has visited," he said.
"From the plains and plateaus of Africa, along the beaches of Oceania and the Caribbean, through the picturesque cities of Canada, the bustling metropolises of Asia and multicultural centres of Europe, the relay has highlighted the unity and diversity of the Commonwealth which accounts for over a quarter of the world's population and land surfaces," he said.