The Minister for Sport, Dr McDaid, has formalised the post-Sydney, pre-Athens review in which he has asked the main sporting bodies to contribute to a discussion on the way forward to 2004.

The think-tank will be driven by the Irish Sports Council (ISC) and will include all 28 national governing bodies affiliated to the Olympic movement, the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), the National Coaching and Training Centre and coaches and competitors from Sydney.

The review was set up after what was described in a statement from the Minister yesterday as "the underperformance of some of Ireland's competitors in Sydney" which "was a source of disappointment, not least to the athletes themselves."

The Minister has also arranged a separate meeting with the OCI, with whom his relationship has completely broken down.

The terms of reference for the review have been finalised with the ISC, which should have a report completed before the end of January 2001.