Ireland's participation in next month's Winter Olympics is in danger following the refusal of the Minister for Sport, Dr McDaid, to make funding available for the team.

Just four weeks before the Games open in the Japanese resort of Nagano, the Irish Bobsleigh and Luge Association (IBLA) and the Skiing Association of Ireland (SAI) were told that no grant aid would be available to defray expenses. The Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), which have subsidised the preparations of the squad, say that another £30,000 is required to equip and send athletes to Nagano. In the absence of commercial sponsorship, they contend that their only hope of raising the money is through the Irish Sports Council, which disburse State funds. Now the fear is that OCI officials will be forced to cancel the Irish entry when they meet in emergency session in Dublin next Friday to reassess the viability of the project.

"The authorities have just another week to revoke their decision. If they don't, it will be seen as a kick in the teeth for minority sports," said an OCI official.

"The athletes in question have achieved the requisite qualifying standards and this decision is an affront to the commitment they have shown in ensuring that they are properly prepared for the Games. Unless the Minister for Sport relents, it may mean a return to the bad old days of going around with buckets for donations," the official said. For the second consecutive Games, the OCI had ratified entries for the two-man and fourman bobsleigh events. This is the first occasion, however, that entries were submitted by the SAI.

Pauli Schwartzacher-Joyce, born in Austria of an Irish mother, has been entered for the downhill race, while Conor Columb is due to compete in the slalom championship.

"We're disappointed," said Peter Darcy, president of the SAI. "Irish teams have competed in the last three world championships and we thought this was an opportune time to progress to Olympic competition."

Pat McDonagh, a former Olympic oarsman who is president of the IBLA, was equally disappointed. "I think it's possible that the people who made this decision were totally unaware of the expertise and the dedication of the crew members involved. "They were away preparing for these Games, first in North America and later Tokyo, since October, returning home only at Christmas. To be told now, only a month before the Games start, that there is no money available to send them, is dreadful. "I'm not saying that our bobsleigh crews will win medals in Nagano. But I will say this this: they will be 100 per cent competitive if they go." Jeff Pamplin, a former national athletics sprint championship who also won nine Ireland youth caps as a soccer player, is due to team up with the multi-honoured javelin thrower, Terry McHugh, in one bob. Pete Donohoe, who drives the other bob, will have the assistance of Simon Linscheid, who competed in the world athletics championships as a hammer thrower two years ago. The relationship between the State agency and Pat Hickey, the forthright president of the OCI, has been fraught, and recently the Minister for Sport saw fit to confirm that grant aid would, in future, be routed through the Irish Sports Council's high performance committee, headed by the former Olympic silver medallist, John Treacy. Predictably, Hickey was at the forefront of the condemnation of the committee's ruling, branding it as unhelpful for the country's image. "At this stage, non-participation could seriously effect Ireland's image with the protocolconscious Japanese, an image which, ironically, has an impact on another of the minister's responsibilities, that of tourism," Hickey said. "It could also effect Ireland's vital industrial links with Japan as evidenced by the huge IDA campaign currently underway, to celebrate 25 years of Japanese investment in Ireland. "If the money isn't forthcoming, we could be in the bizarre situation of having to ask the British squad for a loan of spare winter tracksuits in order to appear in the opening ceremony. We don't want this to happen - and neither does the general public." John Treacy said: "We are dealing here with taxpayers' money and it's our responsibility to ensure that it's spent wisely. We are committed to assisting high performance sports persons and they have been identified on objective criteria.