ATR Exclusive - Deal Close for London Olympic Torch Relay Visit to Dublin

(ATR) European Olympic Committees president Pat Hickey tells Around the Rings he believes a meeting with LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe in Belfast on Friday will pave the way for the 2012 Olympic torch relay to come to Ireland.

"We are respecting all sides and want to be sure everyone is happy with the situation," the Olympic Council of Ireland president and Irish IOC member told ATR.

"Negotiations to date have been very good and this [meeting] is just bringing it to a climax."

On Friday, Hickey said he will seek to hammer out a deal with Coe and his London 2012 torch relay team as well as representatives from the Northern Island Assembly and Northern Island office of the British government.

"The fact that Seb is coming over from London... we hope to push it across the line," said Hickey.

The IOC decided to ban the international portion of the torch relay after violent protests against China marred the Beijing 2008 relay on the streets of London and Paris.

Hickey has been spearheading the campaign to bring the torch to Ireland since the first 74 stops on the torch relay route were announced in May.

He wants the IOC to make an exception to its rule "to celebrate 14 years of peace in Northern Ireland" under the Good Friday Agreement that has changed the system of government within Northern Ireland and helped improve its relationship with the U.K and the South.

"There would be a symbolic crossing of the border and it would go to Dublin for a small torch relay [one day]and then back to Belfast," he said.

"There is goodwill all around. It is just a matter of putting the logistics in place, as it involves two governments and three security agencies."

LOCOG is expected to approve the torch relay detour on Friday, with a formal request then being made in a letter to the IOC.

Hickey said he has the backing of the IOC president Jacques Rogge, having discussed the torch relay proposal with him again last weekend.

"The president said it would be received very favourably," he added.

The final decision rests with the IOC Executive Board, which is due to meet next in Lausanne Dec. 7 to 8.

As a symbol of peace, Hickey said that showing off the torch and its Olympic values would be a huge boost for Ireland and its athletes participating in the London 2012 Games.

Up to 25 percent of the Olympic Council of Ireland's Irish team competing at next year's Games would be drawn from the North.

The Olympic torch will be carried by 8,000 torchbearers on a 12,800 km tour of every nation and region in the Britain that is set to last 70 days.

It is scheduled to arrive in Northern Ireland on June 3 for a four-day visit with stops including Portrush, Derry, Newry and Belfast.

The Olympic Flame may journey to Dublin on June 7 - currently a rest day - before it begins its Scottish leg in Glasgow on June 8.

Reported by Mark Bisson