Elio Maloco's new adult publication for serious people, Patrick, which prominently features lots of women's bare breasts, could provide an ideal opportunity for any cash-strapped Irish athlete with little modesty and hard hopes of competing at the Sydney Olympic Games. Australia's bankrupt synchronised swimmers are currently considering an offer to pose nude in Playboy to pay for their training for the same Games. A request for extra funding for the sport was rejected by the Australian Government this week, and Synchronised Swimming Australia president Peter Young said: "We have received an offer (from Playboy). The team won't be stripping and it won't be sanctioned by the association. If anyone does it, it will be on an individual basis."

A spokesman for sports minister Jackie Kelly said: "I would have thought that they risk putting off sponsors if they appear desperate."

Given the amount of money the Irish women's cricket team had to raise themselves for the last World Cup and the hectic schedule of the Irish women's hockey squad leading up to the European Championships next summer, maybe a radical move could be on the cards.