Persistent questioning by Brendan O'Connell, a former member of the executive committee of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), followed the honorary treasurer's report to the a.g.m. of the council in Dublin last evening. O'Connell, who resigned his post on the executive committee after a public disagreement with OCI president Pat Hickey, first asked for a breakdown of the costs of competing in Atlanta last year.

These were given by Peadar Casey, the treasurer, as £445,766 which O'Connell contended were way above the projected costs of £322,000 he had been given by the then treasurer, Brendan Foreman, last year. But he accepted that the figure had later been revised upwards to £360,000.

Questioned about the discrepancy of £85,000, it was pointed out from the top table that the Delta Travel sponsorship for this amount had been listed as both an item of income and expenditure in the presentation of accounts.

The OCI's auditor conceded that administration and office costs of £90,000 had been included in the table of the council's disbursements of £943,047. O'Connell, who was on his feet five times, also wanted to know why amendments had been made to the 1996 accounts after they had been signed and formally approved. This, it was explained, was attributable to an accountancy procedure.

Nick Davis of BLE, wanted to know why Hickey talked recently of having to lay off administrative staff because of a delay in the receipt of Government funding when the accounts disclosed that the OCI had net current assets of £481,000.

Davis said that he found it offensive that staff had been used as a "political football" in the exchanges between Hickey and the Minister for Sport, Dr James McDaid, when such a reserve existed.

Hickey said that it was prudent for every organisation to hold a substantial reserve and instanced the OCI's predicament in 1980 when they had to fund the participation of the Irish team in the Moscow Games from their own resources and voluntary contributions.

As questions about the OCI's finances continued, Davis asked why the council had not provided delegates with a statement outlining their cash-flow situation. His comments, the president said, would be noted for future meetings.

Earlier, Hickey responded to allegations made in the Dail last week that he had not not provided the Minister for Sport with updated information on the council's cash-flow and the matter of the $100,000 still outstanding from monies raised by Irish supporters in America for the Atlanta Games.

He said he was not in a position to furnish the Minister with a full statement of accounts until they had been signed and approved at last night's meeting but hastened to add that the necessary information would be with the Minister today. "Prior to the Atlanta Games, an amount of $100,000 was distributed to athletes in May 1996," he said. "The balance of the fund amounted to approximately $113,000. In a letter dated August 27th 1997, it was confirmed to the organisers of the fund-raising programme that this money, together with an additional £40,000 from council funds, would be distributed in late 1997 or early 1998.

"We have just completed the round of interviews with member federations seeking grant aid and this £100,000 will be distributed next month to prepare teams for Sydney 2000."

Rejecting allegations that the OCI had not been responsive to requests for information on its finances, Hickey said that this year the Government had contributed only £35,000 to the council's projected administration costs of £217,000. It was announced at the meeting that two more national sporting federations, the Ski Association of Ireland and the Irish Taekwondo Union, had affiliated to the council. Hickey found it incredible that the taekwondo body had not been formally recognised by the Irish Sports Council.

It was also announced that an Irish bobsleigh team had achieved the necessary qualifying stand for the winter Olympics in Japan in February.