How it happened: Olympic Torch Relay, Day 15 Liverpool to Belfast

He completed a Sure Start Sports Leadership Course which led to an invitation to set up coaching sessions for St Thomas` Primary School in Douglas. He led the team to success in their regional final and 3rd overall in the national competition. He also coaches the U-11 squad for his own club, Bacchanalians, as well as being a regular in both the men`s and mixed teams. He also plays badminton, and he wants to study sports science at university.

1445 The Flame is making its way through Onchan, with Bethany De Legh-runciman providing the power. Her stint with the torch will barely raise a sweat: she is an accomplished runner who has finished 60 marathons and, four years ago, walked 170 miles across the island, non-stop, in 47 hours and 22 minutes.

1444

#torchrelay will soon merge with #diamondjubilee in NIreland.how political is this going to be?keeping eye on this fr 7 days #myolympics

1423

Looks like Sinn fein politico Martin McGuinness will be at Belfast airport to meet the flame. Must see this.

1400 Meanwhile, the torch is making its way around the Isle of Man, through Douglaz, Laxey, Onchan, Ballasalla and Castletown, from where it will be flown to Belfast City Airport aboard a British Airways plane, The Firefly.

1331 Among the oldest torchbearers is Bob Lingwood, 93, from Omagh, who will carry the flame through Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.

“I’m delighted and honoured to be carrying the torch. I’m especially pleased to be taking part in the Olympics in this way because I remember playing football every Sunday on what were the Hackney Marshes, close to the Olympic site.

“I remember the last time the Olympics came to London in 1948, and I think London 2012 will be the best Olympic and Paralympic Games ever.”

1300 Brothers Alistair, 14, and Jeremy McIlwee, 12, from Lisburn, near Belfast will carry the torch on the same day.

Jeremy, who is one of the youngest torchbearers in Northern Ireland, will be going through Ballynahinch, Co Down. He said: “I am really excited. It’s not something I ever thought I’d get a chance to do. My friends and family are really proud of both me and my brother who is running on the same day.

“This is my chance to be part of a really good summer and to show off Northern Ireland.”

1238 Owen Paterson, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said that the torch relay would be a “tremendous showcase” for the people, places and businesses of Northern Ireland, and would celebrate the role that Northern Ireland will play in London 2012.

Waiting for the torch to arrive from the Isle of Man, Mr Paterson said: “The next few days are Northern Ireland’s moment to shine. The torch will shine a light on many of our most scenic areas and iconic landmarks.

“I am confident that people throughout Northern Ireland will turn out in their thousands to show their support for the torch, the Games and to celebrate our role in making them happen.”

Companies in Northern Ireland have won London 2012 contracts worth over £40 million, from building the Central Park Bridge on the Olympic Park to supplying metal for the Olympic Stadium.

1227 The torch arrives in Belfast tonight and, among those to carry it during its six-day visit to Ireland, are a number of Olympic medallists. Dame Mary Peters will meet the torch when it lands in Belfast, and boxers Wayne McCullough and Michael Carruth, will take part in the handover at the border.

Celebrities joining the torch relay include Zoe Salmon, the former Blue Peter presenter, the comic and presenter Patrick Kielty, and Colin Murray, the DJ and sports presenter.

1204

Day in life of old flame:it’s now on lifeboat w Scout Jim Holmes, tram,bike,train,plane. exhausting. will b glad2return greece #torchrelay #myolympics

1154 Somebody told me the torch was going in a TT sidecar. They’ve been fired. This looks far more fun/dangerous

Handout photo issued by LOCOG of David Knight as he carries the Olympic flame on the Torch Relay leg through Douglas, on the Isle of Man. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday June 2, 2012. The Torchbearer’s name is provided in good faith, however the Press Association has been unable to verify it independently. See PA story OLYMPICS Torch. Photo credit should read: Chris Radburn/LOCOG/PA Wire

CHRIS RADBURN/LOCOG/PA

1150 Torch now in hands of tt motorbike ace David knight.triple coronary for small isle-tt,torch,jubilee #myolympics #torchrelay

1144 And here is Roger’s first tweet...

Torch has made leap from mainland to isle of man. Clocking up frequent travellers points #myolympics #torchrelay

1142 Diplomatic Editor? I hear you cry. Well yes. It is going to Ireland later this week. And the Isle of Man is sort-of foreign. And, er.

Anyway, Roger is a great writer and loads of fun, so just sit back and enjoy his laconic wit.

1141 Following around the torch today and all this week is The Times’s Diplomatic Editor Roger Boyes. You can follow his tweets at @rogerboyes Join in with the hashtag #myolympics

1124 If I were him I’d be looking out for where that first step ca...

Four lamps carrying the flame were on the flight

CHRIS RADBURN/LOCOG/PA

1115 First picture of the day... it’s arrived!

The Olympic flame arrives on the Isle of Man

YUI MOK/LOCOG/PA

1046 The first flame has been lit and is being carried by Leanne Harper. Yes, the flame has had a lie in today. It’s Saturday, give it a break.

Leanne, 26, was nominated as a torchbearer for her strength in battling Cystic Fibrosis and for her efforts to raise money for research – she has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.

Here she is lighting the torch, and running with it.

CHRIS RADBURN/LOCOG/PA

CHRIS RADBURN/LOCOG/PA

1023 It is getting a lift in the sidecar of a TT bike. If it’s going to go out... now the time it has an excuse.

1000 It’s arrived! At Ronaldsway Airport in the south of the Isle of Man. Somebody will be running with it soon. I reckon they should the whole thing on a TT bike. It’d speed things up a bit - if it got round in one piece.

0940 Flame still in the air... it’s being held in four different lanterns - just like it was on the way over from Greece. They’re fastened into specially designed cradles in seats 1A and 1B. A Torch Security Team member, trained by British Airways as a fire warden, will sit next to the lamps to make sure they remain safe and don’t go out. They are flying BA, obviously. I mean, Locog looked at Ryanair but by the time all the extras - flame insurance, tax, extra seats, tax, seatbelt waiver, tax etc - were added up...

0926 How’s about this for a cute tweet..

@jennahollins 1 month and 12 days until my mummy @annick252 carrys the @London2012 Olympic Torch in Christchurch, Dorset! #futureflames #london2012

Ahhhhh. Sweet.

0900 Breaking news. I’m told there’s no need to swim to the Isle of Man. It’s going in a plane. What a swizz.

0810 So the torch is going to the Isle of Man today. And then on to Belfast ready for a six-day tour of Ireland. I hope today’s torch bearers can all swim...

0745 And we’re off. The torch starts to make its way out of Liverpool...

0700 Welcome to day 15 of the Torch Relay, which begins in Liverpool at 7.45am and will end in Belfast at 5.30pm. For the full 70 days of its epic journey The Times will cover the Relay with live updates, reports and tweets from our reporters following the route of the Olympic Flame around Britain as it gets closer to the opening ceremony of the Games in London on July 27.

We also want your experiences and thoughts, so let us know what is happening with you by adding the hashtag #myolympics to your tweets.

All the runners

Geoffrey Maddrell, William Higgins, Angie Aire, Bethany De Legh-runciman, Boris Kitching, Cyril Rogers, David Knight, Emily Dale-beeton, Gemma Kirkham, Henry De Silva, Ian Sharpe, Ian Tomlinson, Isabel Sharpe, James Holmes, Jemma Edwards, Juan Howland, Leanne Harper, Mo Barnes-sherring, Neil Cain, Rob Sellors, Roger Davies, Simon Mcferran, Stuart Lambie, Suzanne Woods, Victoria Karran, Wagga Williams