GAMES LOGISTICS: Carl O'Brien tells the story of occasional midsummer mayhem on that nightin Croker.
You wouldn't have known to watch it. But behind the scenes at the Special Olympics opening ceremony in Croke Park, things were threatening to go desperately wrong in the lead-up to one of the biggest events ever staged in the country.
With the clock ticking down, and thousands of artists, musicians and dancers pouring into the stadium, a storm erupted, cancelling rehearsals for several hours on Thursday and blowing parts of the set away.
"Essentially we couldn't put anything on stage," says Rupert Murray, the creative director behind the show. "We couldn't even rehearse speeches. Then we heard Patrick Kielty, who was brilliant on the night, couldn't get here. All in all, it was a bit hairy," he says, with the mildest hint of understatement.
Tomorrow night's closing ceremony, a concert in Croke Park, should be a more straightforward affair. However, people are still talking about last week's spectacular opening ceremony which in the end went off without a hitch.
"The response has been very gratifying," Murray says. "It was a tough time for a lot of people. The choristers, for example, took a day off work to be herded around like sheep. And then didn't get to see the show. Yet everyone was so glad to be involved. It seemed to create its own goodwill."
The three-hour show by Tyrone Productions, in which the 7,000 Special Olympics athletes were met by a dazzling display of colour, a deafening welcome and waves of emotion in a packed Croke Park, was a moving spectacle for all who witnessed it.
And while tears welled in the eyes of many watching from the stands, there were also events off-stage which captured what the Special Olympics are about.
"I was struck by Patrick Kielty's generosity with all of the athletes and global messengers, and their reaction to him. They just loved him. He was just so one of them. Even when no one was looking, he was talking and playing with them. But that was true of everybody."
People with learning disabilities also played key roles throughout. Solstice, a presentation which involved the raising of a sun to mark midsummer's day, included 180 people with learning disabilities. Global messengers introduced celebrities on stage. David McCauley, a 16-year-old Special Olympics athlete from Derry, lit the Special Olympics flame.
While to the viewing public the spectacle was running smoothly, inevitably a few unforeseen incidents occurred on the night. Like the sudden appearance of celebrities on the pitch which prompted some athletes to rush from their seats and attempt to embrace their heroes.
"We lost 15 minutes because Colin Farrell and Ronan Keating came in, more or less, one after the other, with the Irish team. And when the sitting athletes heard about Colin Farrell, they all charged over. Everything stopped. Meanwhile, half the Irish team was stuck outside trying to get in."
Then there were radio signals which went into black holes at critical moments. Lifts transporting people which went out of order. Celebrities arriving late.
But a number of inspired creative decisions made the night an unforgettable one, such as the arrival of the Garda and the PSNI motorbikes into the stadium, having the audience wave flags, assembling the largest ever Riverdance troupe and, of course, the Mandela moment.
"I have to say it was ultimately an idea that Bono had," says Murray. "He said: 'How about we play Pride and he comes out into it?' My job very often, as well as coming up with good ideas, is to recognise good ones. That was one of them. U2 were so professional that they rehearsed it so tightly and even stayed on when the rehearsals ran late. That's why they are who they are."
A week on, Murray, best known for revamping the St Patrick's Day Festival, is basking in the afterglow of the ceremony's success.
He is careful to thank the team in Tyrone Productions, such as Pauline McNamara, producer; Joanne McGrath, television producer; Tony Ó Dalaigh, executive producer; Eileen O'Reilly, who looked after the VIPs; Marie Tierney, who organised the flags. The list goes on. But it was the audience, athletes and performers who crammed into Croke Park, which made it a night like no other.
"There is an old cliche in theatre that the unknown ingredient is the audience. You can do what you think is a wonderful show, but until they're sitting there and reacting, you're never quite sure what you've got.
"It was all about getting people involved and we did that. We asked Shaun Davey to write the Athlete's Song and to get everybody to sing it. I hope that when people hear it next Christmas or beyond that, it will bring back the warm feeling of that night."