On Saturday evening, the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games were officially opened in Raleigh, North Carolina, by a five-and-a-half hour ceremony. The forecasted thunderstorms held off as a crowd of 45,000 watched 10,000 athletes and their coaches from around the world take their places in the centre of the stadium.

In the Olympic tradition, Greece was the first country to parade into the stadium. There was a particularly enthusiastic welcome for the 77-strong Irish team, which was led out by the Minister for Sport Dr Jim McDaid: in the summer of 2003, Ireland will host the Special Olympics in Dublin, the first time that these Games will be held outside the US.

The Special Olympics were founded 30 years ago by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and their motto is: "Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."

The largest team of the 150 participating countries was the US, with 2,762 athletes. The smallest was Libya, with just one athlete, who received one of the loudest cheers of the night when he entered the stadium in his wheelchair. The Dutch team carried orange umbrellas, which they might consider using again for the next opening ceremony, which will be in Croke Park. These Games have always attracted strong support, as was evident by the eclectic range of entertainers and celebrities who participated in the opening ceremony. The evening was hosted by the actor Billy Crystal, who began by saying: "The world has very few role models in sports these days, but I'm looking at 7,000 of them right now."

The musical entertainment came from Stevie Wonder, who performed a medley of his hit songs, and the band Sugar Ray, who sang their hit song, Every Morning. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and NBA player Grant Hill, a former North Carolina student, addressed the crowd, as did poet Maya Angelou and the hugely popular evangelist Reverend Billy Graham.

Irishwoman Rita Lawlor, who is one of the 12 Global Messengers chosen to represent the Special Olympics internationally, was personally introduced on stage by Kennedy Shriver.

NASA astronaut Steve Smith, announced that when he goes into space again next October, he will be carrying with him the Special Olympics flag and a CD with the names of all the athletes from this Games: "You'll all be that much closer to the stars," he quipped.

Team Ireland, which represents the 32 counties, will be competing in nine different sports at the Games which run until July 4th.