Friday, 2 May - The international team from the World Harmony Run, the largest relay run for peace on the planet, arrives in Belfast on Tuesday 29 April, and passes through Armagh, Monaghan, Kells and Navan, before arriving in Dublin for a vibrant welcoming ceremony on 2 May featuring Minister for the Environment, John Gormley TD, Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Paddy Bourke, and over 300 schoolchildren from the local area.

The Run is visiting Ireland on a seven month journey covering all forty-nine European countries. In total, the runners will visit over 100 countries this year. Every year, over one million people participate in the Run, passing along our Olympic-style peace torch from hand to hand and adding their hopes for a better world.

The Harmony Run has visited Ireland many times over the last 20 years, always receiving a tremendous céad mile fáilte from the Irish public. The Run has been enthusiastically received as it passed through Ireland on previous occasions – receptions were held in Arás an Uachtarain for the runners by Mary Robinson in 1997 and Mary McAleese in 1999, also by Ministers of Sport and Education and Mayors of various cities and towns.

Endorsements have come from many world figures, including President Nelson Mandela, President Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa and Carl Lewis. Carl Lewis, spokesman for the Run, said, "By carrying the Torch, millions of citizens are taking a step for Harmony and bridging the cultural and social boundaries that separate nation from nation."

On their way through Europe the team of runners cover 70 to 160 km a day. Each runner covers 10 or more kilometres a day. The team will visit schools, associations, running clubs, as well as local and national government organisations. Throughout their visit, runners offer educational presentations in schools that promote the value of international friendship.

Media contact: Mangala Keenan

Ph: 085 1450880

Email: ireland [ at ] worldharmonyrun [dot] org