OCI wishes to honour Brazilian runner in Dublin

The Brazilian athlete who was accosted by an Irish priest in the closing stages of the Olympic marathon in Athens may be invited to Dublin next month as a goodwill gesture by the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI).

The sporting body said it had contacted the Brazilian Olympic delegation with a view to honouring Vanderlei de Lima, possibly at the Dublin City Marathon on October 25th.

Mr Jack McGowran, OCI spokesman, said: "We feel we should do something for de Lima who seemingly lost out on a better medal because of what happened. We are thinking of inviting him to Dublin, maybe to act as an honorary marshal at the Dublin City marathon, as he may not be able to run in the race."

The move coincided with a call from the Fine Gael spokesman on sport, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, for the council to hold a special reception for the Olympic bronze-medallist who was attacked in the closing stages of last Sunday's marathon by Kerry-born priest Neil Horan.

Mr Deenihan said de Lima had shown "great grace in dealing with such a distressing occurrence and I think it would be only right for the OCI to honour his decorous conduct with a reception in Dublin".

Mr McGowran said the council had already contacted the head of the Brazilian Olympic delegation, Mr Carlos Nuzman, who would speak directly to the athlete.

"It all depends on the runner himself. He may be committed to other events."

Ironically, the Brazilian and Irish Olympic delegations held a joint-celebration on the eve of the Athens marathon, following Cian O'Connor's gold medal in the individual showjumping contest. Brazilian Rodrigo Pessoa took silver and a party was held by both teams to celebrate the achievement of the two riders.

"The Brazilians are very nice, and very sporting people," said Mr McGowran.

De Lima himself said he felt "no real resentment" towards his attacker, adding that his happiness at winning bronze "is far greater than my hatred".

Father Horan, who no longer practises his ministry but remains attached to the Archdiocese of Southwark in east London, said yesterday that history would judge whether his actions were right or wrong.

"I am only apologising in the limited sense of a human being. History may judge that there was no need for an apology."

Speaking to RTÉ Radio's Liveline Father Horan said he had carried out the stunt "to draw attention to the Bible". However, he said, he did not intend to assault de Lima. "I intended running straight in front of him, of the leader, whoever he was, and then he would have to dodge by me.

"Unfortunately, what happened was there was a big lorry leading ahead and I couldn't actually see the athlete at all from a distance. I only saw him as the lorry passed and he was straight in front of me and I had no time to get out the large poster, and I thought to myself, 'Unless I run straight at him now he will be gone and I will look a right fool'.

"So I ran straight at him but still meaning to go in front. But the motion and the tension and the momentum actually meant that I ran straight at him and I had to put out my hands.

"No way did I mean to knock that young man. I did not mean to do that."

Father Horan (57) was given a one-year suspended sentence for the attack by a Greek court on Monday. In a separate development, it was confirmed yesterday that Father Horan is due to stand trial in London later this month on a charge of gross indecency towards a child. The case has been listed at Woolwich Crown Court for the week of September 20th.