Special Olympics in Ireland

[Ace]

Irish Times
By: Roisin Ingle
6/28/03

Pierce Brosnan is stirred - but not shaken - by 'these wonderful people'

When Pierce Brosnan paid a visit to Dublin's Riverview complex to present medals to tennis players yesterday it was love-all as far as certain sections of the audience were concerned.

"Look, he hasn't a spare inch," said one middle-aged woman, eyeing up the actor who was dressed in a black open-necked corduroy shirt and faded, frayed denim jeans. "He is absolutely gorgeous."

The actor, who received an honorary doctorate from Dublin Institute of Technology recently, was introduced by the announcer as Dr Brosnan.

Thrilled athletes, including bronze medal winner Matthew Fashley from Ohio, USA, hugged and kissed the James Bond actor as he hung the awards around their necks.

Earlier, Brosnan, in Dublin to shoot the film Laws of Attraction, co-starring Julianne Moore, said the Games would leave an "indelible legacy" on the country.

"I'm so happy that the Games coincided with filming so I could come down to see everyone," he said. "It's a privilege to meet the athletes. I'm happy that I got an opportunity to meet some of these wonderful people."

This was his first Games, he said, adding that "the seed has been sown" for his participation in future events.

His own acting career began working with special needs actors through the theatre education programme at Oval House Theatre in London.

It was "grand" to be in Dublin. "It's always good to come home," he said.

Brosnan went on to describe the opening ceremony in Croke Park as "a night never to be forgotten".

He also said it was deeply significant that Ireland was the first country to host the Special Olympic World Summer Games outside the United States.

On a walkabout through the complex, the star was mobbed for autographs by athletes, families and friends.

"How can you not admire these people?" he said. "They have overcome great odds in life and challenges in life and we can all learn from them."

www.ireland.com/sports/specialolympics/
www.ireland.com/sports/specialolympics/news/news85.htm

[Ace]

Special Olympics 2003 (Olympics Advert): Spectacular ads to say 'thank you

June 28, 2003

A spectacular television commercial using the image of Dublin's Spire will be broadcast from next week to say 'thank you' to everyone who helped stage the Special Olympics.

The advertisement, which features a voice-over by Pierce Brosnan, will be broadcast in the days following Sunday's closing ceremony in Croke Park. The commercial was created for the Games by DDFH&B Advertising and will be broadcast by RTE.

Both companies, which are sponsors of the Special Olympics, have donated their services free. Dublin City Council also waived copyright fees for use of the image of the Spire.

The advertisement opens with an image of the Spire which takes off from O'Connell Street, flies across the city and ends up in Croke Park, where it writes a large 'thank you' to everyone who has helped stage the games.

Suzanne Weldon, director of marketing and communications for the Special Olympics, said: 'It's a way of expressing thanks on behalf of the Special Olympics to everyone who got involved, be it the host towns, the volunteers, the sports organisations.'

DDFH&B played a key role in planning the advertising of the Games and devised the by now familiar slogan, 'share the feeling', which helped capture the enthusiasm and support of the country for the competition.

It also helped to devise a series of TV commercials from the original launch of the competition aimed at heightening awareness of the competition which involved sports stars Roy Keane, Sonia O'Sullivan and Keith Wood.

All the celebrities, crew and technicians volunteered their services free, while royalty-free music was provided by Sinead O'Connor and David Bowie.

Publication: The Irish Times

Distributed by Financial Times Information Limited

Copyright © 2003 Irish Times. Source: Financial Times Information Limited - Europe Intelligence Wire.

hoovnews.hoovers.com/fp.asp?layout=displaynews&doc_id=NR20030628670.4_eb4b0009d8478997

[Ace]

Irish Independent
Emotional Mr Bond leaves us weak at knees
6-28-03

WORLD famous stars are great at doing the humble bit when the occasion arises. Nobody can be publicly moved like they can be moved. And when it comes to handing out honours, well, nobody does it better.

But sometimes, something comes along that really does stir the emotions. You see it written all over their faces.

It happened yesterday in Dublin at the Riverview leisure complex. Pierce Brosnan, who is in town filming his latest movie, had a rare afternoon off and came down to Clonskeagh to present medals to athletes in the Special Olympics tennis tournament. He briefly met the press before going out to the courts, looking languidly handsome and impossibly suave.

If it's a curse to be good-looking, nobody told Pierce, who seems very much at home with his matinee idol status. But why wouldn't he, when half the women in Riverview were going weak at the knees at the mere prospect of getting a close-up glimpse of 007?

"I'm having a grand time," said he, settling into a leather armchair. "It's always great to get home." And he waited expectedly for the questions. What he got from the female professionals with the notebooks was a mortifying display of girlish inarticulateness, like a clutch of beauty queens who had stumbled into a millionaires' convention. We were only short of asking his favourite colour.

But he talked away despite us, saying how much he had enjoyed last Saturday's opening ceremony - "it was a night to remember, a night never to be forgotten".

He thought the games had been "a mighty achievement all round" and would "leave an indelible legacy on the people of Ireland and all the families and friends and people taking part".

As for the athletes? "How can you not be overcome by them. They have overcome great odds in life and challenges in life. We can all learn from them."

And with that, he was whisked away to meet those athletes, leaving us ladies to scrape ourselves off the floor. On the way, he met 14-year-old Danny Corcoran from Waterford, who was proudly wearing the medal he won in the basketball skills competition, where he displayed his proficiency in dribbling and shooting. Meeting James Bond was great, "he's cool, like", but Danny seemed more excited at the prospect of going to tomorrow's Waterford v Cork hurling clash.

Brosnan, who wore a black open-necked shirt and faded Levis, was given a huge ovation when he entered the arena. Among the ladies, there were hurried appraisals: "Jeans too 1970s; absolutely gorgeous; don't like the way he keeps flicking back his hair; carries himself very well; a bit vain; hold me back." Who'd be a movie star?

The first group of athletes made their way to the winners' rostrum, each holding a sunflower as they waited for OO7 to make the presentation.

The sheer joy and sense of achievement radiating from the athletes was reflected in the whooping and cheering from the stands. As the actor made his way along the line, he got to Matthew Hashley (26) from the US. When Pierce placed the bronze medal around his neck, Matthew punched the air and threw his arms around the actor, giving him a big bear hug.

Then, as Matthew beamed and continued to celebrate, Pierce bowed his head and appeared to be blinking back the tears. It happened again during the next presentation, with more hugs and emotion.

Afterwards, he went to the athletes' rest area and signed endless autographs. "It's been my privilege to be here," he said before leaving.

"I'm honoured that I got the opportunity to meet some of these courageous athletes, and I'm delighted that today's ceremony coincided with filming so I could come down here."

Brosnan will be in Dublin for the next six weeks, filming part of his new legal movie called 'Laws of Attraction'. He has based himself at his Dublin home, and his wife and children will be joining him as soon as school holidays begin in America.

[curious george]

Where do his kids go to school that they aren't out yet??

cg

[Ace]

Many school years didn't end until this last Friday. I'm sure Keely has other things to wrap up, closing down the house, dealing with the dogs, dealing with kids, packing them all up for 6 weeks and moving them to Dublin.

In Irish America he says he decided on Laws because it was suppossed to film in L.A. and he could be home while filming for a change, but then it was decided by the money men to do it in Ireland. So maybe Keely isn't all that keen on packing again.

Ace

[curious george]

I thought somebody said they lived in Hawaii. I'm not one of those stalker-types who keeps track of where stars live.

cg

[Ace]

Ahem but other are eh? They live in Malibu, CA where he's lived since RS days. Hawaii. I gather is a vacation home.

Anyway:

China: People's Daily
Monday, June 30, 2003

Special Olympics World Games ends in Dublin

Irish President Mary McAleese on Sunday night officially closed the 11th Special Olympic World Games in Dublin, where some 7,000 athletes from 166 countries and regions not only competed for medals but also displayed their courage of overcoming obstacles and the achievement of participation in the past nine days.

Irish President Mary McAleese on Sunday night officially closed the 11th Special Olympic World Games in Dublin, where some 7,000 athletes from 166 countries and regions not only competed for medals but also displayed their courage of overcoming obstacles and the achievement of participation in the past nine days.

The event has changed Irish attitudes towards people with learning disabilities forever and made Ireland "a better place" tolive in, said McAleese at the end of the closing ceremony at Dublin's Croke Park stadium, promising a forever "special welcome"to the athletes.

Approaching the midnight at the stadium, the Special Olympics torch that had been burning since it was lit in Greece earlier this month was extinguished before nearly 80,000 audiences including 30,000 volunteers whose energy and commitment, made these games the success story they have become.

The replica Special Olympics flags were also officially handed over by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern to the organizers of the2005 World Winter Games in Nagano, Japan and the 2007 World SummerGames in Shanghai, China.

China won 19 gold medals in unified basketball, table tennis, track and field, tennis and roller-skating during the games starting on June 21, together with 10 silvers and three bronzes.

Athletes from China's Hong Kong, Macao and Chinese Taipei are also doing very well. Athletes of Hong Kong, China have won 31 gold, 13 silver and six bronze medals. Macao, China have grabbed 18 golds, 17 silvers and eight bronzes while Chinese Taipei have bagged ten golds, 12 silvers and 12 bronzes.

But medals are not the only goal of the athletes although they are there for win. The Special Olympics motto is: "Let me win. Butif I can't win, let me be brave in the attempt."

Among the legacy of the games, there are always better physicalfitness, new energy and health within the family, as well as new confidence and new friends won by the athletes.

Timothy Shriver, president of the Special Olympics, hailed the games as "an extraordinary success" which would also help change social attitudes around the world to those with intellectual difficulties.

The fact that a country as small as Ireland has staged the games so well showed that any country could if they believed in the spirit of the games, said Shriver. Ireland is the first country outside the United States to host the Special Olympics.

There was support from more than 90 percent of the Irish peopleincluding many celebrities like movie stars Pierce Brosnan and Colin Farrell, rock groups U2, the Corrs and Westlife and some of the country's leading sports heroes.

Special Olympics was founded in 1968 in America with an aim to promote physical fitness and social opportunities for the world's mentally disabled.

"We are not a movement about facilities, we are not a movement about the size of the stadiums you have, we are a movement about the power of the human spirit," said Shriver.

[sparklingblue]

::sighs:: You cannot but love this man!!

[eaz35173]

Just found this on youtube. It's the Riverdance Performance with intro by Pierce ....

[rosafermu]

Beautiful. I like very much Irish music

[eaz35173]

Some pix from the event ...