AT A TIME when Irish sport should be patting itself on the back sport seems, instead, to be tearing itself apart at the moment.

A little over four years ago Irish sport climbed a new peak when two young boxers came back with gold and silver medals from the Olympic Games in Barcelona and, so powerful was the adrenalin which flowed through some veins at that time, that it was suggested that we were now just about ready to stage the Olympic Games in Dublin. Subsequent events saw an Irish woman take the world by storm on the athletics track.

Now, as the games in Atlanta beckon what do we find? We discover that the Olympic Council of Ireland has had difficulties recently while the Irish Amateur Boxing Association which had every reason to feel proud four years ago, continues its rancorous bickering as allegations of all sorts are flung around and the newly elected president, Nicky White, is trying, vainly it would seem, to clean out the Stygiaa stables.

The internal problems in the OCI seem to have arisen in recent months and came to a head with the resignation of the chef de mission, David Balbirnie and, subsequently, his assistant, Brendan O'Connell.

As in all matters of this kind there are many opinions and it is not the intention here to address the rights and wrongs of any side of the story. What must not happen, however, is that the Olympic Council of Ireland itself must not be damaged by any fall out from the problems which have arisen.

This may be easier said than done for already there have been rumblings from the United States which suggest that the problems have caused some consternation there among a group of Irish American businessmen who had pledged themselves to raise funds to support Ireland's Olympic effort in Atlanta.

According to letters which have passed between the president of the OCI, Pat Hickey, and the representatives of the businessmen in the US there is considerable concern about the two resignations and certain guarantees have been sought. Copies of the letters mentioned have been sent to this column.

In a letter dated December 12th the businessmen (Tom Williams, Mac McKenna, Patrick O'Riordan and Dave Fitzgerald signed the letter) sought clarification on the matter. In a further letter dated December 19th copies of which were sent to the OCI executive committee and to the various affiliated sports bodies, their attitude seemed to hardened and the emphasis changed from concern about the resignations to the fund raising itself. The letters also contained some quite trenchant language which it is not proposed to print.

The second letter outlined details of money already promised by sections of the corporate sector in the US. The figures in the letter claim that this amounts to something in the region of $1.25 million with more to come. Functions, the letter stated had been arranged for this month and for February and March in New York, Boston, Washington DC, Florida and St Louis.

Team Ireland has already raised $80,000, the letter says, on the sale of shirts, pins, key chains and other souvenirs and the letter adds that at least $500,000 and possible $1,500,000 could be generated from this source.

What is clear from this correspondence is that whatever problems have arisen within the OCI will have to be sorted out immediately. With only six months to go before the Atlanta games the Irish effort must not be weakened in any way by administrative difficulties. By now all efforts should be focussed on our sports men and women and not on internal squabbling.

The same applies to boxing which, down the years, has brought more Olympic medals to Ireland than any other discipline. By now, as it was pointed out at last Saturday's Central Council meeting, most other countries have their boxers in their training camps.

In Ireland's case we will have to wait until after the National Championship finals on March 8th before we know who will be going to the European championships which means that we will not know who is going to the Olympic Games until April 7th which leaves little time for our boxers to prepare.

Austin Carruth was clearly frustrated by this situation. He will, in all probability, be given the task of preparing our boxers with not a lot of time to spare.

And yet most of the time at last Saturday's meeting was spent trying to sort out a bitter squabble in the Ballyhaunis club and continuing problems in regard to the status and responsibilities of the trustees of the association with much talk of solicitors and litigation.

At the same time a state of the art gymnasium on the National Stadium site lies unused and nobody seems to know why.

These are matters which should concern all of us, given that most people will accept that success at sport does wonders for the morale of the nation. Perhaps what is needed is some kind of a sports ombudsman who would have the power to intervene in difficult situations such as those in the OCI and the IABA.

These problems will not just go away without this intervention of some level headed wisdom.