Muhammad Ali is to be a guest of honour at opening ceremony

The former South African president and the boxing legend will join performers such as U2 and the Corrs at the event at Croke Park in Dublin next Saturday.

Other guests of honour will include film star Arnold Schwarzenegger, Irish president Mary McAleese and Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, while comedian Patrick Kielty will be master of ceremonies.

Cities and towns throughout the island are hosting more than 7,000 athletes, 3,000 coaches and 28,000 delegates for the summer games, which have never before been held outside the United States.

The games have been described as the largest sporting event of 2003.

More than 430 Irish athletes with learning disabilities will take part in 13 different sports from 20-29 June.

A large crowd is expected for the opening ceremony on 21 June at Croke Park, the fourth largest stadium in Europe.

Travelling

Opening ceremony are free of charge but are being initially distributed to the 160 participating delegations, their families and supporters.

It is estimated that nearly 20,000 family members and supporters are travelling for the games.

The Special Olympics torch arrived in Northern Ireland on Friday, marking the official countdown to the start of the tournament.

The Flame of Hope was welcomed to Bangor, County Down, on its way to the opening ceremony.

The flame was lit in Athens 10 days ago and since then it has been carried across Europe by a team of police officers and Special Olympics athletes from around the world.

On Friday, an officer from the Police Service of Northern Ireland brought the torch ashore from a Royal Navy ship, which carried the flame from Scotland.

From Bangor, the torch was taken to Stormont before being carried through more than 170 towns around the island of Ireland before arriving in Dublin.

Belfast is set to be a host city to more than 1,300 athletes and backroom staff from the US team, while more than 20 towns across Northern Ireland are also hosting competitors.

Controversy

The games have attracted controversy in recent weeks, following a request by the Irish Government for countries affected by the pneumonia-like disease, Sars, not to send teams.

Competitors from China, Taiwan, and Singapore, which have all had substantial outbreaks of Sars, have been asked not to travel to Ireland for the event.

The World Health Organisation has criticised the decision, describing it as inconsistent with the latest guidelines for controlling attendances at large events.

A previous ban on athletes from Hong Kong and the Philippines was later lifted.