Dublin came alive yesterday to the sight of the Olympic Flame being carried through its streets.  Crowds of tens of thousands lined the route through the city after the symbol of the games first crossed the border at Newry shortly after 6.30am and then stopped off at the Olympic Council offices in Howth before heading to Croke Park and a tour through Dublin.
After protests in advance of the Beijing Games it had been decided there would be no international tour for the flam this year but Ireland was treated as an exception and the decision was rewarded by a massive show of support yesterday.
Chairman of the London Organising Committee Lord Sebastian Coe was in town, bemused it seems by the screams for Jedward above those for all the other 40 runners.  The twins took their turn down O’Connell Street.  Henry Shefflin had carried the torch on the Etihad Skyline Tour over Croke Park as the first city centre leg.
Paul McGrath took it over the Samuel Beckett Bridge and Ronnie Dalaney into government buildings before sonia O’Sullivan brought proceedings to a close by lighting an Olympic Flame cauldron (pictured) on St Stephen’s Green.
Coca Cola and Samsung are the presenting sponsors of the Olympic Torch relay alongside Lloyds Bank whose presence in Ireland ended with the sale of the Bank of Scotland last year, the offices of which ironically would have overlooked the Green.
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