BLE officials last evening claimed to have the full support of the young athletes caught up in the Board's dispute with the Olympic Council of Ireland over the sponsorship of sports gear.
Earlier, 14 of the 17 athletes ordered by BLE to boycott the European Youth Olympics in defiance of the wishes of the OCI had attended a meeting in Portlaoise with their parents, to be briefed on the points at issue between the two organisations.
In a separate development, BLE named all 17 athletes in a team to compete in the World Youth Championships in Poland, immediately after the Olympic meeting is due to end in Denmark.
Breda Synnott, chairperson of BLOE, the BLE juvenile wing, presided over last evening's meeting was as attended by the BLE National secretary, Dermot Nagle.
After outlining the history of their acrimonious relationship with the OCI over the type of gear to be worn during Olympic promotions, officials invited questions from the floor to help clarify their stance.
"From our point of view, it was a very rewarding meeting for we enjoyed the full support of all the athletes and the parents who attended," said Nagle. "There were no dissenting voices, only people seeking clarification of some of the points at issue. And once they had received this information, they were happy."
The Olympic Council of Ireland, who had earlier threatened to bybass BLE and enter the athletes as individuals in Denmark, are now likely to meet today to discuss the implications of the meeting in Portlaoise.
It is thought unlikely that they will now proceed with Plan B but they still insist that under the Olympic charter, BLE athletes will be obliged to wear the products of the Council's sponsors, Adidas, during the Olympic Games in Sydney.
The team selected by BLE to compete in the inaugural World Youth Championships at Bydgoszcz in Poland on July 16th-18th includes all the athletes originally nominated for the European Youth Games.
They will be joined by David Kelly, Liam Reale, Colin Griffin, Paul Tierney and Johanna Doyle who, BLE insist, were always going to compete in Bydgoszcz.
Meanwhile, the qualifying standards issued yesterday by BLE for the Olympic Games in Sydney in September of next year are generally in line with those in operation for the World Championships at Seville in August.
All standards must be attained after January 1st. The time frame means that Pat McGrath's splendid hammer throw of 77.49 metres, recorded in the United States at the weekend, will not be valid for Sydney. The consolation for the Raheny athlete, however, is that his figures, only 33 centimetres short of the national record, set by Declan Hegarty in 1985, will assure him of a place in the squad for Seville.
McGrath is one of only eight athletes to have secured an A mark, guaranteeing selection. Coincidentally, two of them, James Nolan and James McIlroy, will be nominated for the 800 metres and there may yet be a third Irish representative in this event if David Matthews, as recent form suggests, dips under 1 minute 46.30 seconds in the coming weeks.
Susan Smith is assured of selection in the women's 400 metres hurdles but apart from McGrath, the only field events athlete certain to make the trip is discus thrower Nick Sweeney.
Among the seven with B qualifying marks, applicable only in events in which nobody has attained an A standard, are Mark Carroll, Gary Ryan and the Newbridge 400 metres runner, Karen Shinkins.
