Madam, - As usual, hope and expectation were not enough to win Olympic medals for our "elite" athletes, and as usual, almost in desperation, we pinned our hopes on a faded icon of past glories.
For so many years, Sonia O'Sullivan has almost single-handedly brought world-wide recognition to a country that hardly deserves it, and along with some other focused individuals, such as Eamon Coughlan, has somehow managed to succeed despite the pathetic lack of support for our international athletes.
In a few weeks' time, 50,000 people will fill Croke Park to watch two county teams square up to each other in a Gaelic football final, and it will be a fast and skilful game, given reasonable conditions. The result, however, will mean nothing on the international stage, not even with our nearest neighbours. Our profile as a nation of achievers in sport, will still remain at zilch, regardless of what happens in Croke Park.
Unlike other countries, which give priority to internationally played games, our uniquely Irish, Gaelic games permeate every aspect of sporting and social life outside the greater Dublin area. While undoubtedly this has hadbenefits in terms of stability and local cohesion, it puts our country at a distinct disadvantage in global sport.
If we genuinely want to make our presence felt in future Olympiads and other major world events, some hard decisions will have to be made, both at local and national level.
Trying to make ourselves feel better by complaining about the few bulked-up drug abusers who manage to slip through the net will only give us cause for future navel-gazing.
We need to look outward as a nation and leave our delusions of greatness behind, while we aspire to sporting equality with other small countries such as New Zealand. - Yours, etc.,
NIALL GINTY,
The Demesne,
Killester,
Dublin 5.