Olympic torch coming to Ireland but politicians not in the running

NO IRISH politicians will be permitted to run with the Olympic torch during its one-day stay in Dublin on June 6th next year.

Following guidelines laid down for torch bearers in the UK, politicians may receive the Olympic torch when it arrives in Dublin but may not carry it in any of the running legs of the event.

“There will be no politicians allowed to run in the relay,” said an Olympic Council of Ireland official. “Following established UK torch relay protocol there is no prevention of them receiving the torch but they will not be running. They will not be in tracksuits.”

The decision to perform the relay outside of the host country Britain was taken at an International Olympic Committee executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, yesterday morning. Dublin is to be the torch’s only detour outside of the UK in the lead-up to the games, with some 50 Irish bearers taking part.

A co-ordinating committee will be formed early next year by the Olympic Council of Ireland and, following consultation with all of the Irish sports federations, including those sports outside the Olympic family as well as community and civic bodies, the names of the runners will be finalised. There may be a lottery-type element to the selection process.

The torch will spend almost seven days in Northern Ireland, while 8,000 individuals will carry it on its route around Britain. Among them will be an Iraq war veteran from west Yorkshire, an 84-year-old marathon “walker” from Herefordshire, and a star teenage gymnast with cystic fibrosis – Holly Hamill from Glengormley, Northern Ireland. “It is amazing to be part of this – I just hope I don’t fall over. The feeling should be epic,” she said.

There will be a requirement on Irish organisers to include people with disabilities and ensure a degree of ethnic diversity.

Guidelines specify that the majority of the bearers should be under 25 years old.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny yesterday welcomed the news. “The announcement that the Olympic torch relay is to come to Dublin is fantastic news and will put Ireland centre stage in the immediate run-in to the games.

“This brings even closer to home the spirit of the Olympic Games, which is being hosted by our near neighbours in London next year.”

The Irish route is largely known but details are unavailable. After crossing the Border at Newry, a convoy will move to the Olympic Council of Ireland headquarters in Howth, Co Dublin, for a ceremony. The relay will begin at the Garden of Remembrance, move down O’Connell Street and into the financial services district, and from there to the Sheriff Street area.

It will then cross to the south side of the city via the Samuel Beckett bridge and move towards the Dáil. From there it will be carried towards the Grand Canal via Baggott Street, and travel up the canal towards Harold’s Cross.

The route then turns back towards the city by Christ Church Cathedral and Dame Street, the front gates of Trinity College Dublin and Grafton Street, before moving to St Stephen’s Green and the Shelbourne Hotel. It will finally end up on Merrion Square.