BELFAST, June 3: The Olympic torch began its five-day tour of Northern Ireland on Sunday with a dawn procession through the Belfast docklands where the doomed liner Titanic was built.

Police planned extra security to deter Irish Republican Army die-hards from disrupting the event.

All went smoothly on Sunday as torch-bearers carried the symbol of the London Games through Belfast’s Titanic Quarter and then the suburb of Holywood, hometown of golfing great Rory McIlroy.

There crowds five-deep cheered the sight of the torch-bearer, flanked by a half-dozen security staff jogging alongside.

Between stops, a unit of police motorcyclists kept the roadway clear.

The torch also passes through Dublin.—AP