People who have dealt with Dr Roderick Murphy, the senior counsel who has been appointed by the Minister for Sport, Dr McDaid, to investigate child sex abuse in swimming, have described him in favourable terms.

"A gentleman. Well respected. A very experienced arbitrator," said one solicitor. "Courteous," said a swimming coach who had dealings with him when she was a member of Glenalbyn swimming club five years ago when Dr Murphy was on the committee.

"His competence could not be called into question," said another solicitor as Dr Murphy faces into one of the toughest and certainly the highest profile case he has had to deal with since he qualified with a law degree from Trinity College in 1971.

An enthusiastic masters swimmer, Dr Murphy, his wife Patricia and four of his seven children are all actively involved in the sport. He and his wife and two of their children are attached to the Glenalbyn club in Stillorgan, Dublin. Their two youngest girls are members of the Trojan club, a short distance away in Blackrock.

Dr Murphy holds the Irish Masters record for the 200 meters breaststroke.

The difficulties which may arise for Dr Murphy in his investigation concern not only the claims and counterclaims by sex abuse victims of Derry O'Rourke and George Gibney and how the Irish Amateur Swimming Association conducted itself when presented with complaints about the two, but the likelihood that his inquiry will, inevitably given the small world of amateur swimming, extend to include some people associated with his own club.

No one doubted Dr Murphy's surefooted ability to carry out this task, but the obvious manoeuvres needed to question friends and members of a club with whom he may have shared committee meetings and swimming competitions has been a source of much discussion by some of the abuse victims and their parents, who have been communicating with the Minister's office.

Those who have had direct dealings with Dr Murphy in his capacity as a swimming administrator feel he will do the job well. During his spell in Glenalbyn in 1993, he was on the committee when the club parted company with a highly rated coach, Carole Walsh.

Dr Murphy subsequently met Ms Walsh at a swimming gala. At that stage she was - and still is - successfully coaching the Trojan club. He went across the pool and welcomed her back to swimming.

"He told me that he was delighted to see me back in swimming. He said that he had regretted seeing me go out of swimming and wished me good luck," she says. Two of Dr Murphy's children, Susanna and Andrea, joined the Trojan club last September.

Another coach who has had dealings with Glenalbyn points to the fact that while Dr Murphy may find it difficult dealing with his own club, he will have the advantage of dealing with people he knows on the other side as well.

"Sure he will be talking to people in Glenalbyn but a lot of the people who will be going to him he will know very well. It works both ways. There is no reason to question his impartiality at all," he said.

In recent days Dr Murphy has made conciliatory moves in a lowkey and private way. Within hours of his appointment he telephoned a variety of people to assure them he would conduct the inquiry with fairness and sensitivity to everyone involved. He has assured people that names will not be made public, and that it is the areas of system failure he seeks to identify. He has also said privately that he needs as many avenues open as possible because of the limited time available for the inquiry.

While the Minister's reliance on the "moral compellability" of people within swimming to come forward remains a difficulty for those who believe that "moral compellability" is what the IASA has lacked, the confidentiality of the inquiry ensures that the defamation writs currently flying around in swimming circles will not be an issue. That, at least, should put some minds at rest as Dr Murphy begins his trawl.