The new enforcers of the 21st century sat at the back of the forum in the Icon Centre in Leopardstown. Nurses and soldiers, procedural people. This is the front line in Ireland's offensive against drug abuse in sport.

As the Irish Sports Council finally dragged itself and the sports federations into line with the rest of Europe, the backward image was cast aside.

We are now asked to accept that the gloves are off in the fight against those who insist on damaging their health and cheating in sport.

Irish Sports Council chief executive John Treacy and Minister for Tourism and Sport Jim McDaid announced an initial war chest of £350,000 to keep Ireland clean, with £200,000 going on testing procedures alone. Loose change, perhaps, but a start welcomed by all in what was, by nature, a bleak but upbeat weekend.

Throughout the lectures and discussions the realities and practicalities of testing were the issues that kept rising to the surface.

With 600 tests to be conducted in the year 2000, most of them focusing on Olympic sports leading up to the Sydney games, Ireland will probably face a minor culture shock.

As many as 15 athletes could test positive over the next 12 months. A tempest followed Michelle de Bruin's doping offence, but the Irish public will now be asked to swallow a whole lot more than one tarnished champion.

The figure is derived from statistics offered by Al Guy, Ireland's Operations Manager on the testing front. According to Guy's global statistics, between three and four per cent of out-of-competition tests are likely to be positive. From tests conducted during competition, between 1.2 per cent and 2.0 per cent will reveal positive results.

With 40 per cent of Irish tests to be initially conducted out of competition and 60 per cent during competition, the overall figure of 600 tests could translate into 15 positive results.

"We would be naive to think that the practices going on around us in other countries are not practised here. I think that we can rely on world statistics. We are no different in the area of misuse in sport than we are in any other area," said Guy.

The positives will be the minor players in the various sports - despite the recent cluster of high-profile nandrolone positives from Linford Christie and Merlene Ottey and most absurdly a third positive finding from Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, experience shows that, frustratingly, the major championship medallists have more expertise in avoiding capture.

"There's no doubt but that we are all on a steep learning curve," says Treacy, anticipating many of the issues that lie ahead. Again history has shown that even after testing positive most high-profile athletes deny they have ever used a banned substance. Most then threaten legal action. In that respect the Irish federations are on their own.

It is up to them, amateur and professional, to hold their nerve. Treacy and Jon Doig, the development officer for the Scottish Sports Council, warned that: "Federations have to be responsible."

The main fear is litigation, and in this respect Irish federations, although given guidance, have been left to figure it out themselves.

Philip Browne, the chief executive of the IRFU, voiced his concerns about releasing names of players who had tested positive for their A sample but whose B sample had not yet been analysed. The answer given was to be conservative and wait for confirmation on the B sample. But what happens when the media call and the federation is forced to suspend a high-profile player on the strength of the A finding? Indeed.

Swim Ireland have already backed down on a plan to revise records in the sport in the face of a legal threat from de Bruin, bringing into question the whole issue of how much a principle might be worth. A visit to the High Court is enough to bankrupt most Irish federations.

In addition, it is the federations who must deal with rogue athletes, which could lead to a serious lack of uniformity throughout sport. Despite the intense interest, federations are also under no obligation to publicise the number of positive tests they encounter.

"There are many things that have to be worked out and I'm not saying it will be easy," Treacy said. "What we are trying to do is impress on those athletes who might be tempted to cheat that doping is not a shortcut to success but a road to ruin. Yes, there are challenges facing all of us but this should not deter us from our goal."

The GAA will come on board in April, when their constitution allows, while soccer is already preparing to come into the scheme. The first tests in Ireland carried out by the Sports Council were conducted at the weekend.

`We would be naive to think that the practices going on around us in other countries are not practised here. I think that we can rely on world statistics. We are no different in the area of misuse in sport than we are in any other area.'

- Al Guy, drug tester