'Politics and sport don't mix', says Irish sports chief

Speaking in the midst of Irish preparation for the Beijing Olympics, Irish Sports Council CEO John Treacy has said politics and sport should not mix.

There has been debate in some quarters that the opening ceremony, and indeed the games themselves, should be boycotted in response to the Chinese government's human rights record.

The issue of Olympic boycotts is nothing new - Treacy himself took part in the American-boycotted Moscow Games in 1980 and the Soviet-bloc boycotted Los Angeles Games in 1984.

Controversy aside, Treacy reckons that Ireland are sending a strong squad of athletes to Beijing and is certainly well versed in the demands required to succeed at Olympic level, having himself won a silver medal in the marathon at the 1984 Games.