AN IRISH dancing ex-clergyman known for wrecking sporting events will run the Brighton Marathon.

Neil Horan attracted national attention by disrupting the 2003 British Grand Prix at Silverstone and the men’s marathon at the 2004 Athens Olympics in a bid to broadcast his religious beliefs.

The 67-year-old – dubbed the Marathon Wrecker – preaches the second coming of Jesus Christ and warns the end of the wo rld is near.

He often stages protests in the form of an Irish jig dressed as a leprechaun.

He plans to raise money for charity Guide Dogs on Sunday. Organisers of the event said they are aware of his past but are powerless to stop him taking part.

Speaking to The Argus yesterday, Mr Horan promised his antics were behind him. He said: “I just want to run my first ever marathon and raise money for charity – Guide Dogs do great work to help people. I’ve raised £250 so far. My previous involvement with races is all in the past and I know those sorts of actions would contradict my Christian message and the cause of the sporting event.

“I’ve been training but just being able to finish will be good enough for me. I have no intention of interfering with the race.”

A Brighton Marathon spokesman said: “We have no control over who enters the marathon, he’s allowed to run. It is the way the registration system works – it’s a free country. We have made our security services aware of his presence and we aren’t worried about it.”

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Mr Horan grabbed marathon front runner Vanderlei de Lima and pushed him into the crowd. The contestant lost 20 seconds in the race and eventually finished third. Mr Horan was handed a suspended sentence and fined in a Greek court.

The former Roman Catholic priest was thrown out of the clergy in 2005 and was arrested before he could carry out a protest at the football World Cup final in 2006.

He was given an Anti-Social Behaviour Order in 2007 to prevent him causing trouble at the London Marathon but was back in the spotlight when he danced a jig on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent in 2009.

In 2010 he claimed he was stopped from taking part in the Brighton Marathon and resorted to an Irish jig protest.

• Horan’s history of sporting protest

June 5, 2004 – Horan tried to run in front of horses at the Epsom Derby but was spotted and stopped by police.

August 29, 2004 – He was fined €3,000 and given a suspended sentence for 12 months by a judge for his actions at the Athens Olympic games.

January 2005 – He could no longer call himself Father after he was removed from the priesthood.

July 2006 – He was arrested by German police after writing to Chancellor Angela Merkel and The Kingdom newspaper in County Kerry, Ireland, telling them he was planning a peaceful jig outside a stadium in Berlin before the World Cup final. He told the newspaper he would carry posters declaring Adolf Hitler was a good leader who was following the word of Christ and would give the Hitler salute and light a candle in his memory at the Gestapo headquarters. He spent two months in custody awaiting trial but was released after a judge discharged the case.

2007 – Horan was handed an ASBO banning him from entering any London boroughs on the day of the London Marathon on April 22.

May 2009 – He made it through to the second stage of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent after performing a jig.

April 2011 – Horan held a one-man protest outside the Royal Albion Hotel in King’s Road after claiming he was barred from the Brighton Marathon.

July 2013 - Just before Prince George was born he stood in front of the media at St Mary’s Hospital in London with signs making claims the Bible made prophecies about the Royal family.