Three Trinity College Dublin students have been selected to carry the Olympic torch as it makes its whirlwind trip through the city this summer.
Mark Kenneally, Áine Ní Choisdealbha and Natalya Coyle are among a group of 40 who will, along with Olympic medallist and chef de mission of the Irish Olympic team Sonia O’Sullivan, carry the torch during its visit to Dublin on June 6th.
The students were selected as part of a programme organised by Olympic sponsor Samsung.
Kenneally will be travelling to the games to represent Ireland in the marathon. He is the reigning Nation Senior 10,000m champion and has previously represented Ireland at European and World Cross Country Championships.
Ní Choisdealbha is studying for a masters degree in Neuroscience and has been commended for her research on human perception and voluntary tuition work in the Dublin area.
Coyle is studying Business, Economics and Social Studies at Trinity and is on course to qualify for the pentathlon event at the London games. She is the number 43 ranked pentathlete in the world.
A spokesman for the Olympic Council of Ireland said the remaining torch bearers would likely be named next month. The organisation has been inundated with offers from willing torch bearers, he said.
The torch will arrive in convoy to Croke Park at 9.13am on June 6th, and will be carried by 40 runners through the streets of Dublin. The route will take in Mountjoy Square, the Garden of Remembrance, O’Connell Street, Eden Quay, Customs House Quay and Sheriff Street, before crossing the Samuel Beckett Bridge.
It will proceed along Grand Canal Street, up Holles Street, through Mount Street and Merrion Square and on to Canal Road. It will return via Clanbrassil Street and Christ Street into Grafton Street, Nassau Street and Merrion Square, before ending up at the Mansion House in Dawson Street at midday, where there will be a ceremony involving all 40 runners who will be picked to carry the torch.
The torch will arrive in the North on June 3th. It will cross the Border on the morning of June 6th with a ceremonial handover from Wayne McCullough to Michael Carruth, two Irish boxers who won silver and gold respectively at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
The torch will then travel in a 14-vehicle convoy to Dublin for its journey around the city. When it is finished its tour in Dublin the torch will travel back to Newry, to begin its next leg of the journey.
The 70-day torch relay begins at Land’s End, Cornwall, on May 19th, and arrives at the Olympic opening ceremony in London on July 27th.
Torch Factfile
800mm in height
8,000 the number of circles on the torch, representing the torchbearers
800 grams the weight of the torch. It is made from an special aluminium alloy developed for the aerospace and automotive industry and was designed by east Londoners Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby
