Some 800 members of the Defence Forces will provide expert support to the organisers of the Special Olympics when the games begin next month.
The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, launched a special unit of the Defence Forces yesterday which will play a key role in providing communications, security, technical and engineering support.
A communications centre will be established in the Phoenix Park to help monitor one of the largest radio networks ever established in the State. Army personnel will also maintain a 24-hour security presence outside the six accommodation centres for athletes and their coaches in the Dublin area.
Mr Smith yesterday said he was delighted the Defence Forces would be playing a central role, but said personnel would maintain a low profile.
"We've purchased sophisticated communications equipment and are well able to provide support. There are 28 different locations and, if something goes wrong, you need immediate contact to get it remedied or supply additional services.
"It would be fantastic to think that nothing will go wrong, but of course something might always happen," he said.
The Special Olympics will be the largest sporting event to be held in the world this year, involving 7,000 athletes, 3,000 coaches and official delegates, and 28,000 families and friends.
Military engineers will build floating platforms and bridging at the canoeing venue in Leixlip, Co Kildare, while a bailey bridge will be constructed for pedestrian access to a cycling event in the Phoenix Park.
Lieut Col Dermot Conway, who will head up the special unit, said: "Our main effort will be taking care of athletes and using our technical expertise. We have the equipment available and, more importantly, we have the men with the expertise to use it," he said.
Mr Smith also defended the Government's decision to ban athletes from countries struggling to cope with the SARS virus and said it could only be reversed if the medical situation in the affected countries changed.
"As someone involved with special needs for the best part of my political life, I genuinely feel for the individual who has trained and can't come. I'd love to see that changing but it can only be based on medical evidence," he said.
Ms Jo McDaid, operations director of the Special Olympics,said the help of the Defence Forces would prove invaluable, particularly in events such as canoeing and kayaking. "Their skills are so versatile," she said.
