Wayne McCullough and Michael Carruth got emotional as the Olympic torch crossed the Irish border.
Olympic Tourch crosses Irish border on historic visit to Republic
Boxing medallists Wayne McCullough and Michael Carruth got emotional as the Olympic Torch crossed the Irish border on Wednesday.
The Olympians took part in an early-morning handover ceremony witnessed by Games chief Lord Sebastian Coe at a remote spot between Newry in Northern Ireland and Dundalk in the Republic.
The torch was then taken on to Dublin as a symbol of the Irish peace process.
McCullough said: "It was like going into the Olympic final again. You get emotional. It was almost like I was about to fight again."
Crowds of local people watched and cheered as McCullough, who won bantamweight silver in the 1992 Games, passed the flame to Carruth, who took welterweight gold in the same tournament.
McCullough said the ceremony was a step forward for relations within Ireland.
"I am from the Shankill Road in Belfast. I have never had any problems like religion," he said.
Major step
"It is a major step for everybody. People are coming together. Boxing was always a sport where Protestant and Catholic came together."
McCullough, who now lives in Las Vegas, carried the Irish flag in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and said it had been 24 years since he saw the flame.
"It is pretty awesome. This was something I was looking forward to all week, to do something cross-community and meet my good buddy Michael Carruth," he said.
"It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I am honoured to be doing it."
Carruth added: "It is fantastic. The torch is what is good about sport. It is a fantastic occasion for everyone - north and south of the border."
