Irish council orders Olympic contingent to stay in safe areas

THE Olympic Council of Ireland has restricted Irish athletes and officials to the high security Olympic Village and other designated, accredited areas following the pipe bomb which exploded in Atlanta at 1.25 a.m. (local time) on Saturday morning.

Two people died and 110 were injured in the explosion at Centennial Park. The FBI suspect the bomb is the work of a US militia organisation.

Ms Alice Hawthorne from Albany, Virginia, was killed directly by the bomb, while a Turkish television cameraman, Mr Melih Uzunyol, suffered a heart attack rushing to the scene of the explosion. There were no Irish casualties.

Mr Pat Hickey, president of the OCI and a member of the International Olympic Committee, said "It was a terrible tragedy but the Irish attitude was more philosophical than other countries, probably because of the problems which exist in our own country.

"Still, we have issued a directive to all athletes and officials to keep within the confines of the Olympic Village and accredited areas as an extra precaution," Mr Hickey added.

The OCI issued a message of condolences to the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG), and the IOC, which will be forwarded to the families of the casualties.

Mr Hickey also visited Mr Sinam Erdem, president of the Turkish national committee and a fellow member of the IOC, with whom he has "a close affinity and friendship", to personally offer his condolences.

When news of the blast was relayed to the OCI, the Irish officials rounded up all the team managers and ordered them to do a head count of their team members.

It was quickly established that no members of the Irish team were in the vicinity of the bomb.

Unlike Centennial Park, the Olympic Village where 15,000 athletes and officials reside is a fortress with tall fences topped with electronic sensing devices.

US military personnel and secret cameras continuously scan the area.

Security measures have been tightened further since the explosion and even athletes who normally pass quickly through security checkpoints have been subjected to thorough searches. Each event has opened with a minute's silence since the bombing, as a mark of respect to the victims.