Arrivals: Thousands of Special Olympics athletes will arrive at Dublin Airport today as the clock ticks down to the opening ceremony of the Games next Saturday.
Most of the 7,000 athletes are due to arrive today and will make their way to the 177 host cities, towns and villages.
Hundreds of the athletes have already arrived, however, including teams from Barbados, Bolivia, Britain, Cyprus, Indonesia and China.
The Barbados team, which is staying in Portarlington, Co Laois, spent the day at the Leinster Senior Football Championship match in Croke Park yesterday, which featured Dublin and Laois.
Mr Pat Vance, chairman of Bray host town committee, which is accommodating the 53-strong Chinese delegation, said the atmosphere in the town was "absolutely brilliant".