I propose to answer Questions Nos. 34, 35 and 261 together.
At the outset, I want to make it quite clear that responsibility for the ongoing dispute regarding the clothing to be worn by Irish track and field athletes competing in the Sydney Olympic Games rests squarely with the Olympic Council of Ireland and the Athletics Association of Ireland and only they can resolve it.
In common with the majority of the Irish people, and especially in my capacity as Minister, I am anxious that the 2000 Olympic Games should not see a repeat of the very unsavoury and public differences that occurred between the Irish athletics and Olympic organisations in Atlanta in 1996.
Over the past 12 months I have been in contact with both the Olympic Council of Ireland and the relevant athletics organisation – originally BLE and more recently the Athletics Association of Ireland – urging them, in the strongest possible terms, to resolve their difficulties in relation to the gear issue well in advance of Sydney 2000. The Irish Sports Council has also been involved in similar contacts.
Despite our best efforts, however, and despite reassurances from both bodies that they would endeavour to have the matter resolved, they remain entrenched in their conflicting positions. Disappointed at the failure of the council and the association to find a compromise, and seriously concerned at the effect the dispute could have on our athletes as they prepare for the biggest event of their sporting lives, I recently took the unusual step of writing to the relevant international organisations – the International Olympic Council and the International Amateur Athletics Federation – seeking clarification and guidance in the matter. In reply, I was informed that the Association of the Summer Olympics International Federations, including the IAAF, is to discuss the gear issue at a meeting which takes place in Lausanne tomorrow, 19 April.
Last week, in the course of separate meetings which I held with the senior representatives of the OCI and the AAI, both undertook to meet promptly to consider the outcome of the Lausanne discussions and to report back to me immediately thereafter, hopefully with an agreed resolution.
I assure this House of my continuing commitment to having this matter resolved in the interest of our athletes whose psychological and mental preparation for the games is as important as their physical fitness, in the interest of preserving Ireland's image abroad and, not least, in the interest of the Irish sporting public.