The Twenty eight athletes and coaches of the El Salvador Special Olympics Team arrived in Dublin this morning as the vanguard of 10,000 athletes due in Ireland for the event over the next few days.
The team arrived on a flight from Boston shortly after 6 a.m. and have travelled to their host town of Tralee to take part in a welcoming ceremony this afternoon.
Shortly after 11 a.m. the Nepalese delegation arrived in Dublin and they will be followed by the Gabon team, who are due in Shannon at 11.45 a.m. Their host town is Mitchelstown, Co Cork.
Over the coming days teams from 158 countries will arrive in Ireland at Dublin, Belfast and Shannon airports.
Due to the SARS restrictions imposed on the delegates the Taiwanese team will be the last to arrive. Following last minute negotiations the team will spend 10 days in quarantine in Thailand.