Large crowds lined the streets of Dublin on Wednesday 6 June to witness the Olympic torch relay through the city centre in a gesture of goodwill for Anglo-Irish relations.
The historical event saw a total of 40 torchbearers carry the flame from Croke Park to St Stephen’s Green along a route that passed many of the capital’s historical attractions.
Well-known names like Olympic medal winner Sonia O’Sullivan, Irish soccer legend Paul McGrath, Kildare’s champion jockey Ruby Walsh and Lucan’s own Jedward drew the most attention, but there were many other lesser known participants who have worked tirelessly away from the limelight.
Mubarak Habib, project officer of the Dublin Multicultural Resource Centre and a volunteer with Sport Against Racism Ireland (Sari), is a native of southern Somalia and was chairperson of the recent Africa Week Athletics programme.
He said: “It’s a great experience that comes once in a lifetime and it’s not only a proud moment for me but for my entire family, my friends, my fellow staff who I work with everyday, and also for Sari who nominated me for this great event.
“All Africans should be proud of this moment because I was the only one in the whole group from Africa. ”
Volunteer Pamela Lacken, meanwhile, found the whole occasion “very surreal”.
“I don’t think any of us expected what actually happened, and it was absolutely just amazing,” she said. “It’s like being a celebrity for a day, absolutely fabulous.”
For the Lord Mayor of Dublin Andrew Montague, who hosted a special lunch for the torchbearers at the Mansion House, the day was like a dream come true.
“I never thought I’d see a day like this in Dublin today, the Olympic torch running through our streets,” he said. “The fantastic athletes that we have and the community activists who got the chance to bring the torches through, I thought [they were] amazing.”
Anthony Sutherland – who took part in honour of his late son Darren, a bronze medallist in boxing at Beijing 2008 – said that he plans to donate his torch to a charitable institution.
The Caribbean native was happy that he took part in the event, but admitted to some prior reservations. He initially refused the invitation from the Irish Olympic Committee, he says, because he feared he would not be fit enough.
Sutherland joked: “After ten seconds I was persuaded and [as] you can see I survived!”
Many young female fans travelled from far and wide to see their idols Jedward, and the twins were in the mood to entertain as usual. The Eurovision contestants looked to have forgotten their disappointment in Azerbaijan as they skipped about with endless energy.
“This was much better than the Eurovision because we’re in Ireland and we have something golden in our hands,” said the Lucan boys.
Before Queen Elizabeth II opens the 30th Summer Olympic Games in London on 27 July 2012, the Olympic torch will have passed through more than 1,000 localities assisted by 8,000 runners across the UK and Ireland.
