Murray: 'After Canada it can be tough to talk about it, how much it hurt the squad'

Sean Dancer’s women’s team and Mark Tumilty’s men’s side will both feature in Olympic qualifying tournaments in the Spanish city, starting this weekend, the aim being to reach the knockout stages and claim one of the top three finishing places in their respective tournaments.

OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS: The Ireland Men's and Women's hockey teams are both looking to qualify for the Olympics in Paris 2024. Picture: Sportsfile

The expectation is that the team Ireland sends to the Paris Games this summer will be the biggest yet. More athletes again than the 116 they sent to Tokyo for the delayed Olympics in 2021, which in itself, was almost twice the collective gathered for London 2012.

There are a myriad of reasons behind it. Facilities are better, the government is putting more money into sport and the political bickering that marred too much of the sporting landscape has largely subsided. Teams within the team are a factor too.