Editorial: Now is the time to celebrate our Olympic heroes, not weeks or months from now

​A massive homecoming will be held in London today to welcome back the Team GB athletes from their stunning success in the Paris Olympics.

It was the UK’s third best medal haul at any Olympics since the first games ​were held more than a century ago.

The celebration this evening will be at the Wembley Arena, with free tickets, in a stadium for 12,000 people. The National Lottery is hosting the tribute event, which is fitting having been so central to the success of British athletics and sport after the lottery was established 30 years ago, on the condition that a percentage of the revenue went to good causes. This is a key reason why UK athletes do so much better than they did in the 1970s and 80s.

It has been a joy to see such sporting success. But here in Northern Ireland it is all the more extraordinary. Our athletes, who compete for either Team Ireland or Team GB, outperformed any part of these islands by winning seven medals. That is 10% of the medal tally of Britain and Ireland, much more than our population share.

It is crying out for a public celebration. Yet, a week later, we do not know what that celebration will be. In fact, we did not even know until late in the week that it would be an event to which the public would have access. Stormont’s communities minister Gordon Lyons told the BBC yesterday that he did want it to be open to the public. This is good to hear.

He also said: "My officials have been tasked by me with creating a celebration appropriate to the fantastic achievements we saw displayed in Paris.”

That makes Mr Lyons sound authoritative, that he is tasking his officials to do something. But they are suggesting something that is too late and perhaps also too little, so perhaps he should take control of arrangements.

Alternatively, as Trevor Ringland suggests, the private sector could arrange a bus tour through Belfast for NI’s heroes.