Groats likely to be included in Olympic torch route
CONFIDENCE is mounting John O’Groats will, after all, be included on the route of the Olympic torch as it is carried throughout the length of the UK.
There was disappointment in the Far North when it emerged Inverness was the only scheduled stop in the Highlands as the torch travels north after leaving Land’s End on May 19.
After Inverness, Kirkwall and Stromness are next in line to see it on the 70-day whistle-stop programme.
Politicians and groups in the area have since been campaigning for the famous torch to come to Groats.
Among the bodies pushing the promotional pluses from the attendant publicity has been Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership.
Partnership manager Eann Sinclair said it has not been deterred, despite a less-than-encouraging response from the Olympics’ organising committee.
“It was a pretty bland response,” he said at Wednesday evening’s meeting of Dounreay Stakeholder Group.
“But we’re working on this with colleagues at the Highland Council and, while not wishing to pre-empt any announcement, we’re fairly confident that we’ll get John O’Groats included in some way or other.”
The organising committee has pledged to announce full details of the torch route by November.