BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — The Olympic torch has begun its five-day tour of Northern Ireland with a dawn procession through the Belfast docklands where the doomed liner Titanic was built.
Police say they plan extra security to deter Irish Republican Army die-hards from disrupting the event. All went smoothly Sunday as torchbearers carried the symbol of the London Games through Belfast’s Titanic Quarter and then the suburb of Holywood, hometown of golfing great Rory McIlroy.
There crowds five-deep cheered the sight of the torchbearer, flanked by a half-dozen security staff jogging alongside. Between stops, a unit of police motorcyclists kept the roadway clear.
A Belfast police commander says security measures will be heightened throughout the torch’s Northern Ireland travels because IRA factions would like to disrupt the event. The torch also passes through Dublin.
