Ulster Unionist Sports spokesperson Robin Swann has welcomed confirmation that the Olympic Torch Relay Route will cover all 26 Councils in Northern Ireland in June of next year.
The North Antrim MLA said;
“The London 2012 Olympics will be the major sporting event of next summer and there is already great excitement in Northern Ireland as people look forward in anticipation.
The Olympic Torch relay route will take in 65 communities in all 26 of Northern Ireland local council areas over a five day period between Sunday 3rd June to Thursday 7th June next year.
This means that from Enniskillen to Ballycastle, Londonderry to Newcastle and all points in between, local people will be able to see the Olympic torch and share in the Olympic vision. This will bring the Olympics as close to the people as is possible, short of actually travelling across to London or the other venues in the south-east of England where the events are taking place. In North Antrim we are especially proud of the achievements of Dervock’s Kennedy Kane McArthur who won gold at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912 and I am particularly pleased to see that the Olympic Torch will be visiting Dervock exactly one hundred years later.
If then excitement generated by the Olympics helps play a part in encouraging adults to get actively involved in sport once again, and if it helps to inspire young children to develop an interest in and love for sport, then that will be a lasting legacy which will deliver great benefits terms of a fitter and healthier society.”