Jedward carry Olympic torch in Dublin

Thousands of people lined the streets as the twins - real names John and Edward Grimes - made their way past some of the city’s most famous landmarks.

Special permission was granted for the flame to cross the border into the Republic of Ireland for a historic tour symbolising the peace process.

Irish Olympic boxing medallists Wayne McCullough and Michael Carruth took part in an early-morning handover ceremony at a remote spot between Newry in Northern Ireland and Dundalk in the Republic.

Mr McCullough, from Belfast, said: “It is a major step for everybody, people are coming together. Boxing was always a sport where Protestant and Catholic came together.”

Pat Hickey, president of the Olympic Council of Ireland, said it was a way to celebrate15 years of peace in Northern Ireland.

“The OCI is the Olympic committee for the island of Ireland so how could you have the torch in part of the island and not coming down to the capital of the Republic?” he added.

The Olympic torch’s tour of Ireland began in Belfast on Sunday, with 400 torchbearers taking part in a five-day relay around Northern Ireland.

It returns to Belfast, where there will be evening celebrations, before going to Scotland on Thursday night.