THE ROUTE for the Olympic torch to travel across the Border into the Republic and subsequently around Dublin has been agreed for June 6th next year.
While president of the Olympic Council of Ireland Pat Hickey said yesterday that some formalities have yet to be completed, there was overwhelming support for the cross-Border event in Northern Ireland, Britain and in Dublin.
A circuit for the torch procession around Dublin has also been drawn up following a symbolic crossing of the Border at Newry, for which the theme will be the peace dividend enjoyed for more than a decade.
“It will then fast-forward down to Dublin where it will kick off at our headquarters in Howth and then it will start really at the Garden of Remembrance,” said Mr Hickey.
The passage from the Border to Howth will take place in eight vehicles, which are part of the Olympic relay “Road Show”. The torch will move down O’Connell Street from the Garden of Remembrance and into the financial services district and from there into the Sheriff Street area.
It will then cross to the south side of the city via the Samuel Beckett Bridge and up towards the Dáil on the Merrion Square side. From there it will angle over towards the Grand Canal via Baggott Street and travel up the canal towards Harold’s Cross.
The nominated carriers will then turn back towards the city taking a route by Christ Church Cathedral and Dame Street, travelling towards the front gates of Trinity College Dublin, from where it will move up Grafton Street and on to St Stephen’s Green. Moving across Stephen’s Green to the Shelbourne Hotel, it will turn back towards Merrion Square again, where, said Mr Hickey, “there will be a huge ceremony on the exact spot where the Dubs celebrated on Monday night”.
It had already been agreed the torch will be in Northern Ireland on June 3rd, 2012, taking in Portrush, Derry, Newry and Belfast. The Olympic emblem will remain in the Republic for just one day, before moving back up to Northern Ireland and crossing to Stranraer in Scotland.
Mr Hickey – who chaired a meeting last week in Dublin with the Assistant Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, the Assistant Commissioner of the PSNI and the assistant commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, which has responsibility for overall security for the torch – said only an unforeseen, extraordinary event will now prevent the Dublin leg from taking place.
Not only will it be the first time the Olympic emblem has been carried here, it will be its only detour outside Britain and Northern Ireland in the lead up to the London 2012 games. The International Olympic Committee will have the final say and crucially, according to Mr Hickey, its president, Jacques Rogge, is also supportive of the Dublin plan.
