The emphatic nature of Pat Hickey's re-election as president of the Olympic Council of Ireland puts an end to one of the most bitterly-contested sports battles of recent years. Speculation that Hickey's rival, businessman Richard Burrows, could mount a serious challenge for the OCI presidency proved to be more a case of wishful thinking on behalf of his campaign team than any serious challenge to the incumbent president.
The contest between the two candidates may have provided rich fodder for the sports media over the last month but once again Irish sport was left with a bloodied nose. Individuals and associations, who should be working together to develop sport and Olympic hopefuls, became polarised and bogged down in arguments and counter-arguments over which candidate offered the brightest future after the dismal display by the Irish team in Sydney.
That dismal display remains the central issue, irrespective of Thursday night's vote. Significant sums of money have been devoted to a wide range of sporting organisations in recent years and the return at Olympic level has been very poor. While the OCI is responsible for Irish involvement at each Olympics, the sports federations, the Irish Sports Council (ISC) and the athletes themselves must take the brunt of the blame for this under-achievement. The ISC, the athletes and the federations receive the bulk of annual sports funding to develop their sports and the public has a right to expect a better return for its money.
Success at Olympic Games level is built on hard work, proper coaching and participation at top-level international events in the four years between games. This requires a cohesive plan by all vested interests - something which is still some way off in Irish sport.
A glimmer of hope that something like this might happen came from Pat Hickey after his victory on Thursday when he moved quickly to emphasise that he will abide by his campaign commitment to change a whole variety of practices within the OCI. This is long overdue and must be seen to remove the suspicion and doubt about certain OCI actions which became core issues of the election campaign.
There is no question that Hickey is a very able and forceful sports administrator but his bluntness and confrontational style are very often at odds with his role as the figurehead of the national Olympic committee which is supposed to foster harmonious and co-operative relations with appropriate governmental and public bodies. The OCI president needs to act as a unifying force in the run-up to Athens in 2004. At the moment the temptation will be to savour the taste of his overwhelming victory but as a pragmatic sports politician he will quickly realise that it is vital for the healing process in Irish sport that the lessons of recent months are absorbed and acted upon.