Ruby carrying the Olympic Torch through Dublin tomorrow

also Jedward


Dublin prepares for Olympic Torch

(UKPA) – 4 hours ago 

Dubliners have been called on to line the streets of the Irish capital on Wednesday as the Olympic Torch tours the only city outside the UK.

Jedward will be among more than 40 torchbearers taking part in a historic six-hour trip south of the border.

Jockey Ruby Walsh, Olympians Sonia O'Sullivan and Ronnie Delany, and former footballers and rugby stars will also take part in the event, which includes a 44-metre high run along the Skyline roof at Croke Park stadium.

Pat Hickey, president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), said organisers appealed to have the torch brought into the jurisdiction for the symbolic visit.

He said: "We will never have the Olympic Games in Dublin and the nearest we are ever going to come to it is the London Games, so to have the torch relay on our part of the island is quite unique and historical. I think in years to come people will look back and say, 'that must have been great'."

The torch's tour of Ireland began in Belfast on Sunday, with 400 torchbearers taking part in a four-day relay around Northern Ireland.

An early-morning border ceremony will be held as the torch travels to the Republic, with the handover between Irish Olympic boxing medallists Wayne McCullough, a Protestant from Belfast, and Michael Carruth, a Catholic from Dublin, who became friends during the 1992 Games in Barcelona.

More than 5,000 people are expected in Howth as Irish president Michael D Higgins greets the first Dublin torchbearer in a civic ceremony outside the OCI offices.

The convoy, which will include a vehicle with a miner's lantern holding the original Olympic Flame from Olympia in Greece, will move on to Croke Park - the home of GAA - before the first leg of the city relay starts.

The torch will pass several historical sites including the Garden of Remembrance, GPO, Custom House, River Liffey, Merrion Square, St Patrick Cathedral, Christchurch and Dublin Castle before arriving at St Stephen's Green and going back to Northern Ireland.