The Olympic torch crossed the Irish border on Wednesday for its only visit outside Britain on its journey to the London 2012 Games, in a sign of reconciliation between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
The torch was passed over the border between Olympic boxing medalists hailing from both sides, in a ceremony witnessed by crowds of local people and London Games chief Sebastian Coe.
The torch is on a five-day journey around Northern Ireland and is crossing the border as a token of closer ties between Britain and the Republic of Ireland following Queen Elizabeth II's landmark visit there last year.
The trip comes the day after Britain wrapped up four days of celebrations for the sovereign's diamond jubilee, marking her 60 years on the throne.
The relay will start in Dublin, with the torch then returning back to Northern Ireland to visit Newry and Lisburn before finishing in Belfast.
40 torchbearers were to carry the flame through Dublin, including Sonia O'Sullivan, who won the 5,000 metres silver at the 2000 Sydney Games, former Ireland rugby winger Denis Hickie, and pop duo Jedward, who represented Ireland at last month's Eurovision song contest.
Jockey Ruby Walsh and former Manchester United footballer Paul McGrath were also to carry the flame.
The first torchbearer was to be Henry Shefflin, regarded as one of the greatest hurling players of all time.
Queen Elizabeth's highly-charged visit last year was the first by a British monarch since her grandfather king George V in 1911, before the republic won independence in 1922.
In his diamond jubilee personal tribute, Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, said he thought the visit had been his mother's "greatest achievement".
Seen as the last piece in the jigsaw of peace in Northern Ireland, the four-day trip required the republic's biggest-ever security operation.
However, through some highly symbolic gestures -- including speaking in Irish -- she melted away enough post-colonial angst to permit an unscheduled public walkabout at the end of the visit.
The Olympic flame arrived in Britain from Greece on May 18.
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