Irish ex-priest promises no further stunts

Irish ex-priest Neil Horan, who disrupted the men's Olympic marathon in Athens on Sunday, has vowed not to carry out further …

Irish ex-priest Neil Horan, who disrupted the men's Olympic marathon in Athens on Sunday, has vowed not to carry out further stunts.

Brazilian runner Vanderlei De Lima was in gold medal position in the closing stages of the event on Sunday when he was suddenly obstructed by the London-based Kerry man.

The shaken athlete resumed his race but was later overtaken by rivals and ended up coming third to claim the bronze medal. Horan received a 12-month suspended sentence for the offence yesterday.

Speaking on RTÉ radio today, he justified his actions but said he would not carry out a similar stunt again. He said he did not mean to drag De Lima into the crowd but only meant to disrupt him briefly.

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Earlier, Fine Gael called on Irish Olympic chiefs to honour De Lima at a special ceremony in Croke Park on All Ireland Final Day.

The party's sport spokesman, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, said the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) should recognise the injustice of the attack and should "recognise his Olympic spirit and display of fair play".

Mr Deenihan, a veteran of several All Ireland Final days as a Kerry footballer, said De Lima had shown great grace in dealing with such a distressing occurrence.

"I think it would be only right for the OCI to honour his decorous conduct with a reception in Dublin" he said.

"Perhaps it may be appropriate for a presentation to be made to de Lima on All Ireland Final Day at Croke Park as has been the case when honouring Irish Olympians, such as Sonia O'Sullivan, in the past" he added.

Mr Deenihan called on the OCI to consult with the GAA on his suggestion so it can be arranged as soon as possible.

The All Ireland Hurling Final takes place on September 12th, and the climax of the football championship season is two weeks later.

A spokesman for the OCI said the TD's suggestion was "a nice idea" but added that the logistics in planning such a visit at short notice may prove difficult.

Yesterday, Mr Dan Horan, the Kerryman's brother, said his family were upset by his actions and wanted to say sorry to the Brazilian people.

"We are looking to see if we might be able to contact Brazilian television at some stage to apologise to the people over there and to this man personally, if possible, because if the role was reversed and it was a Brazilian cost Ireland we'd say we want total recourse" Mr Horan said.

"I think we, as a country, would be very, very mad with Brazil. The family are totally shocked and appalled by what he is doing.

"It's bringing a pile of hurt to the family because some of my brothers and sisters have young children going to school and they're worried that they will be taunted about this," Mr Horan said.

"It's very hard for the family, very, very difficult. He has this belief that the world hasn't that much time left to go and the imminent return of the Lord.

"I keep saying to him: 'Everybody would respect anyone to have their views on anything, no matter what it is. Nobody can deprive you of that, but you don't force it down people's throats.'," Mr Horan added.