John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To return to a point made by Senator Feighan, the presentation made to us by the athletes made it sound as if there is a loophole. I agree with what Mr. Treacy stated. Perhaps it is a technicality. One can argue that it is not a sporting issue, but it is a big issue for those involved. In the Olympics, there is no issue with people opting for the UK or Ireland. In the case of the IAAF, however, if people choose to represent Ireland, they are representing the 26 counties. We could have somebody from Armagh who technically would not be representing all of Ireland and that is the issue.