There’s nothing like a welcoming committee after a long journey and, let’s be honest, there’s nothing quite like a welcoming committee headed by an ex-IRA commander.
The Olympic torch left the British mainland for the first time today, touched down on the Isle of Man for a few hours, and then flew on to Belfast to be met not only by the charming Dame Mary Peters but also the Deputy First Minister, the Sinn Fein politician Martin McGuinness.
Mary Peters of course won Olympic pentathlon in 1972, at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Martin McGuinness was convicted for membership of the Provisional Irish Republican Army before going into mainstream politics.
Well, a flame, however ancient, is not a sentient being so it did not turn on its heel and head back for Greece. There was a job to be done. In any case Mr McGuinness is now a highly respected politico and may even shake the hand of the Queen when she visits the province later this month.
But it had been a hard day. The Isle of Man had been billed as a pitstop but turned out to be something of a breakneck sprint. It was inevitable I suppose. After all, what do we know about the Isle of Man? It has cats without tails, is a haven to some of the world’s canniest tax evaders and delights in its knee-scraping TT motorbike riders.
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Since cats do not qualify as torch bearers because of RSPCA rules, and since those tax refugees prefer to stay out of the limelight, it was left to the TT racer Dave Knight to rev up his engines carry the flame.
From then on in it became a test of the flame’s capacity to resist motion sickness. Boy Scout James Holmes, a plucky thirteen year old, took the torch on the RNLI lifeboat.
Next was a horse drawn tram and Maureen Barnes-Sherring, a 73 year old equestrian who has been instructing young disabled people how to ride. And on again by push bike and then on a train, only fitting on an island that was the Reverend Awdry’s inspiration for the backdrop to Thomas the Tank Engine. Today’s train was electric, but no matter.
And now? Now the passage of the flame gets just a little bit political, merging with the Jubilee festivities in a part of the world where waving the Union Jack is more than just a sentimental gesture. Let’s hope the Olympic Spirit brings a bit of lightness to the proceedings. Good to know that Martin McGuinness is on board.