Sydney 2000: Team Ireland

Athletics

Bridie Lynch: A memorable gold in the discus in Atlanta was complemented by bronze in the shot to add to a brace of silver medals won at Barcelona. Lynch will compete in three events - pentathlon, discus and shot.

Catherine Walsh: Walsh is fourth in the pentathlon world rankings and seventh in the discus. Will also compete in the long jump, an event in which she holds the Irish record.

Patrice Dockery: The 29-year-old holds every Irish record from 100m to 5,000m in her class. Dockery will compete in the 100m, 800m, 1,500m, and 5,000m.

Tom Leahy: One of the Irish team's more high-profile members, Leahy will concentrate on the discus. Now 42, he has won medals at every level.

Michael Clarke: Will represent Ireland in the visually-impaired marathon. It will be his sole Paralympic event. One of the Irish team's full-time athletes, Clarke has raced in the 5,000m and 10,000m metres in the past.

Michael Delaney: Will compete in the high jump, long jump and 100 metres. Delaney is the national record holder for both long jump and high jump. Secured three European bronze medals in the 90s.

Sean O'Grady: A former competitor in basketball and shot putt, O'Grady has chosen to specialise in the discus. O'Grady won a discus bronze in Atlanta.

John Ahern: The 26-year-old actually performed as a pentathlete in Atlanta but has decided to divert his attentions to the shot putt and javelin.

Derek Malone: Will compete in the 800 and 5,000 metres. The 20-year-old from Clare has previously represented Ireland at the World Championships in 1998 and holds the Irish record over 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m.

Lisa Callaghan: At just 16 years of age, Callaghan is the youngest member of the Irish team and has already made her mark at world level, setting the class seven javelin world record at the ECP Championships in 1999.

Garrett Culliton: Will compete in three disciplines - shot putt, discus and pentathlon. Culliton previously represented Ireland at the 1994 and 1998 World Championships.

Michael Smith: Smith will compete in the discus. The record holder in his class over 100m, 200m, 400m and discus, he has opted for the thowing event.

Mary Rice: Has won medals at every major competition she entered since 1995. Will compete in the 200m, 400m and the discus.

Sharon Rice: Will compete in the 100m, 200m and 400m. A former international swimmer, Rice also has international medals for javelin, discus and shot putt but will concentrate on the track events.

John Fulham: Will take part in the 100m and 200m. Holds Irish record in the 200m sprint. Earlier in the season, Fulham took on and beat the bulk of the field he will face over 100m in Sydney at a meet in Sweden.

Collette O'Reilly: Will compete in the 100m, 200m and 400m. The 42-year-old has already competed in three Paralympics. Her best performance in international competition came when taking bronze at 1998 World Championships.

Catherine O'Neill: Will compete in the discus. O'Neill is a full-time athlete and currently holds the world record in her class for the discus and the club.

Boccia

Keith Hayes: Makes his Paralympic debut as the Irish Boccia team captain. A member of the 1999 World Cup team, the 24-year-old has established himself as one of Ireland's top boccia exponents.

Gabriel Shelly: The 32-year-old is ranked third in the world and has represented Ireland in international competition since the World Championships in the Netherlands a decade ago, where he helped Ireland take bronze.

John Cronin: The world number one in his class came back from Argentina last year having won two World Cup silver medals and will captain the pairs in Sydney. The Cork athlete is the current Irish champion.

Margaret Grant: Teams up with John Cronin for the pairs in a partnership that will be confident of success.

Roberta Connolly: Is one of the younger members at just 22. She was part of the Irish team that claimed silver at last year's World Cup in Argentina.

Martina Murphy: Without question the rookie of the boccia team. The 24-year-old claimed her place on the team with a second place in this year's national championships.

Equestrian

Joan Salmon: As well as riding in the World Championships in 1996 and 1999, Salmon took bronze in the freestyle event in Atlanta.

Breda Bernie: Will compete in dressage. Bernie won a place on the team for the World Championships in Denmark after a relatively short time in the sport.

Tim Culhane: Silver at the 1999 European championships and a gold and a silver on this year's able-bodied judo circuit underline his credentials.

Michael Doyle: Regularly competes against able-bodied athletes. Doyle won gold in the German Open and recently came third in the Irish Open (able-bodied).

Tony White: Is the most experienced member of the judo squad. The high-point of the Dubliner's career was a European bronze medal in 1999.

Sailing

Ireland's first Paralympic sailing team will have John Twomey, Paul McCarthy, Sean McGrath and John Sullivan on board. The crew will compete aboard the 23-foot three-handed keelboats in the Sonar class.

Swimming

Mairead Berry: Berry is ranked second in the world in her class and can boast gold ('92) and silver ('96) medals. Honours also include a hat-trick of golds in 1993 European and 1994 World Championships.

Gerry Dunne: Dunne is the holder of four gold, one silver and three bronze medals, all won over a range of distances at the New York Games in 1984 and Seoul in 1988.

David Malone: A world record holder in the backstroke over 100m, the 22-year-old will compete in his strongest event and the 50m freestyle and 200m individual medley.

Table Tennis

Michael Cunningham: Since making his debut in 1972, he has featured in athletics and basketball over the years, winning gold for the javelin in 1976.

Ronan Rooney: Has a wealth of experience and featured at Seoul 1988, Barcelona '92 and Atlanta '96. Experienced most of his success at the World Wheelchair Games in 1998 where he won gold in the class one men's singles and a silver in the team event.

Robert Kenny: Sydney will be 35-year-old Kenny's first Games and the Dublin-born player will have Ronan Rooney to steady his nerve in the men's team event.

Esther Stynes: A bronze in the doubles alongside Siobhan Callanan back in 1992 has been the Kildare woman's best result to date.