Olympic Torch To Race Round NI

NI will feature among the 74 locations on the 2012 Olympics torch relay route.

It will start at Land's End and take a route that covers every nation and region in the UK and includes island visits, will see the Olympic torch travel 8,000 miles.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog) said the Olympic flame would come within a one-hour journey of 95% of people in the UK.

The torch will leave Land's End, Cornwall, on the morning of Saturday 19 May 2012 - the day after it arrives in the UK from Greece.

During the 70-day torch relay, it will pass through towns and cities including Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool, Belfast, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Newcastle, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, Oxford, Southampton and Dover, arriving at the Olympic Stadium on 27 July for the lighting of the cauldron at the opening ceremony.

In NI, the new Minster for Culture, Arts and Leisure has welcomed plans for the visit of the Olympic torch to the North of Ireland next year.

Speaking at Belfast City Hall, which will be one of the venues where local people will be able to see the Olympic Torch on its journey to London to open the 2012 Olympic Games, Carál Ni Chuilín said: "The Olympic torch will be here for four days next June and Belfast, Portrush, Derry and Newry will have the tremendous honour of hosting the Olympic torch overnight. Each location will organise festivals to celebrate this historic, once in a life-time event."

Belfast Lord Mayor, Councillor Pat Convery, hailed the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay as a once in a lifetime occasion. He said: "We are honoured that we are to be a part of this momentous celebration.

"The Olympic flame is renowned for being a symbol of peace, unity and friendship; traits that are now also associated with Belfast and Northern Ireland.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for all of our citizens and neighbourhoods to demonstrate the spirit of unity and cooperation.

"Belfast is a young and evolving city, and I have no doubt that we will embrace the torch and its ethos with enthusiasm and energy," he said.

(BMcC/GK)