OLYMPIC TORCH WELCOME IN WEST CAVAN

 

West Cavan County Councillor, John Paul Feeley has proposed that the
Olympic Torch on its way to London 2012 should pas through West Cavan.
Welcoming confirmation that the Olympic Torch Relay will include all
of Ireland and a symbolic handover when it moves from the North of
Ireland to this jurisdiction.

‘The Olympic Torch is a very powerful global symbol; a sign of hope,
endurance and courage. I welcome the fact that it will visit all of
this country and think that there could be no better place to hand
that great symbol across the Border that in the twin villages of
Blacklion and Belcoo.’

The Torch is due to travel around the North of Ireland from Sunday 3rd
of June to Thursday 7th June and will then travel around this
jurisdiction culminating in a Ceremony in Dublin on the 6th June.

‘The stretch of road between Blacklion and Belcoo is very symbolic. It
is a new bridge replacing a previous structure the forerunner of which
was completed in the last years of the 1700’s a time of great turmoil
in our history. From Partition there was a Customs and Excise
Checkpoint on either side of the Bridge and during the Troubles there
was a permanent Army and Garda Siochana Checkpoint on the Blacklion
site with a hugely fortified RUC Station on the Belcoo side. All of
that has changed utterly in the past fifteen years. Nowhere better are
the physical manifestations of the Peace Process to be seen and it
would therefore be the perfect location for the handover.’

Referring to the huge efforts by local community groups, Cavan County
Council and Fermanagh District Council to capitalise on the benefits
of Peace, the Fianna Fáil Councillor stated that he would ask Jack
Keyes, County Manager, the County Tourism Officer, Joanne Hayes to
examine the idea and bring the proposal to the Olympic Council of
Ireland.

‘West Cavan and West Fermanagh are areas that show what can be
achieved by working together, by working through barriers and moving
forward together, overcoming seemly impossible challenges. Blacklion
and Belcoo are the vocal points of the Marble Arch Caves Global
Geopark, the first Cross Border UNESCO Geopark in the world. Surely
this is an ideal location to bring this great symbol of togetherness
and peace, the Olympic Torch.’

Concluding, Councillor Feeley expressed the hope that the Torch could
then move on to Dowra, the first Village on the Shannon and the
longest River on these Islands.

Leave a Reply