Cullen questions value of sporting bodies' reports

MINISTER FOR Sport Martin Cullen has questioned the value of reports commissioned by the Irish Sports Council and the Olympic Council of Ireland on the performance of the Irish team at the Beijing Olympics.

He described the relationship between the two bodies as “fractious” and found this “quite distressing”. But he warned “the bottom line is that they must work together for the betterment of the athletes they purport to represent”.

Mr Cullen told the Dáil that what “struck me about the two reports in question is that each blamed the other organisation for the perceived ills in the system. So I’m not sure whether either report made a rounded and mature contribution to the issues that must be tackled”. He had engaged in discussions with representatives of a range of national governing bodies as “the best way to obtain an understanding of the issues”.

Labour spokeswoman Mary Upton called on the Minister to “knock heads together” and said it was “ridiculous” and “duplication” that €36,000, of public money was spent on “internal sports politics”.

The Sports Council report cost €30,000 while €6,231 was spent by the Olympic Council. The Olympic body told her they paid themselves and not from Government-funded money.