WATCH: Team Ireland’s entrance and more highlights from the 2016 Olympics opening ceremony

And so it begins…

As will be the case with a lot of events during the 2016 Rio Olympics, the opening ceremony took place at a fairly unsociable hour, so many of you may have been in dreamland when the XXXI Olympiad began with a bang. For some observers, the opening ceremony takes on a greater significance than the events themselves, perhaps not a huge surprise when considering that it is watched by an audience of hundreds of millions worldwide. Over 11,000 athletes from 205 nations came together for the opening ceremony in the Maracana Stadium, including Team Ireland, with captain Paddy Barnes waving the tricolour amidst of sea of smiling faces. What an unbelievably proud moment for everyone involved. https://twitter.com/olympiccouncil/status/761717371102978048 https://twitter.com/olympiccouncil/status/761728703118381060 No wonder they were all smiling; the team had got in the mood for the ceremony with some samba dancing shortly before it all kicked off… https://twitter.com/olympiccouncil/status/761694055059361792 That aside, there were lights, fireworks and a host of other unexplained paraphernalia that certainly looked impressive; overall, a good start to what will hopefully be a smashing few weeks. https://twitter.com/Olympics/status/761700831066554368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/761704393687171072 https://twitter.com/NBCOlympics/status/761730772428521472 https://twitter.com/Olympics/status/761717515420565504 https://twitter.com/efellingham/status/761702231292993536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/CANOCBroadcast/status/761771009980534784 https://twitter.com/TelegramJames/status/761757361337995265 https://twitter.com/PeterWilt1/status/761761990628958209 https://twitter.com/Rio2016_en/status/761788278223712257 https://twitter.com/Rio2016_en/status/761786032027152384 https://twitter.com/Rio2016_en/status/761798983916351488