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Dozens of happy schoolchildren from Scoil Mhuire primary school in Howth, Co. Dublin celebrated Olympic Day on Thursday June 22nd – just the day before the anniversary of the creation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Paris in 1894.

Schoolchildren from Scoil Mhuire primary school in Howth, Co. Dublin will help celebrate Olympic Day on Thursday June 22nd – a day that commemorates the creation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Paris in 1894.

Pat Hickey, President of the Olympic Council of Ireland, is to become President of the European Olympic Committees organisation (EOC), one of the most powerful positions in the Olympic movement.

Dr. Kevin O’Flanagan, who died in a Dublin hospital today (May 26th ), was one of the most extraordinary sportsmen Ireland has ever produced – being capped in soccer and rugby as well as playing for Arsenal Football Club and being an Irish athletics champion. He was also a long-time member for Ireland of the International Olympic Committee and a former chairman of the National Rehabilitation Board.

An important Olympic Sport Seminar is being held at Olympic House tomorrow evening (May 26th) to discuss, in the main, science and medical proposals for the Beijing Olympic Games. Key practitioners from National Federations who have been identified as being likely to have athletes in Beijing have been invited to attend.

On Thursday 20 April, the Olympic Museum in Lausanne hosted the 4th edition of the SportStar Awards. The ceremony was held under the patronage and in the presence of Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Juan Antonio Samaranch, IOC Honorary President for Life, and Mario Pescante, President of the European Olympic Committees. Also present were Valentino Castellani, President of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games Organising Committee (TOROC), and representatives of the Winter Sports International Federations, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and Eurosport.

The Organising Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs) – Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 – have all been in attendance at the XV General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), taking the opportunity to work and discuss with the National Olympic Committees (NOCs), one of their key stakeholder groups, as well as to inform them of the progress of their respective Games. The NOCs along with the athletes, the International Federations (IFs), sponsors, partners, media and others are all stakeholders the OCOGs work closely with to ensure the delivery of quality Olympic Games. This close collaboration with stakeholders is an integral part of the IOC’s Games Management process through which the IOC brings together the key stakeholders and the OCOGs, notably through the IOC’s Coordination Commissions, in order to help guide and support each OCOG.

The Founder of the Olympic Council of Ireland and Ireland’s First Member of the International Olympic Committee John James Keane (1871 –1956)

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded its 2006 world “Women and Sport” Trophy today to Argentinean tennis player Gabriela Sabatini at an official ceremony held at the headquarters of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva (Switzerland). While Gabriela Sabatini’s many victories need no introduction – 27 singles and 12 doubles titles, plus a silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games – her work to promote and develop tennis in her country, among youngsters and particularly girls, has not often made the headlines.

Last month, for the XX Olympic Winter Games in Turin, a delegation from the Olympic Museum moved to Piedmont. As is customary for each edition, it endeavours to enrich Olympic patrimony by collecting original items, some belonging to medalists, some evoking a story, and some quite simply representing the moments full of emotion, sadness or joy experienced by those who thrilled the whole world during the 16 days of competition.

For a number of these cities the Olympic adventure started several years ago, either through a previous bid for the Olympic Winter Games or in a national bid to win the right to represent their country in the 2014 process.