OLYMPIC GAMES IRELAND TEAM FORMALLY ANNOUNCED:A FEW MONTHS back it appeared Ireland would be sending one of its smallest teams in Olympic history to Beijing, a reflection of the increasingly difficult quest just to qualify.

Then all the planning and funding and hard work finally paid off, and a team of 51 competitors from a record 12 sports was announced yesterday, exactly four weeks before the Games begin.

This figure is one fewer than the number of accredited coaches, managers and officials also named for Beijing, which means the travelling party totals just over 100.

Also included are two additional swimmers announced just yesterday under a special agreement between the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) and Swim Ireland, and sees backstroke specialists Aisling Cooney and Melanie Nocher selected on B standards and their potential for the London Olympics in 2012.

Also, the Dublin sailor Ciara Peelo has been given the coveted honour of carrying the Irish flag in the opening ceremony, which kicks off at 8:08.08 on August 8th. The 29-year-old will compete in the laser class in what will be her first Olympics.

The 12 sports represented are athletics, badminton, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming and, for the first time, triathlon.

Although the final deadline for qualification in athletics is Monday week, it's unlikely any additional athletes will make the A standard in that period. It means there will be 13 track-and-field athletes in Beijing, well down on the 35 who competed in Sydney eight years ago, when the overall Irish team numbered 68.

Second to athletics in terms of numbers is rowing, with eight named between the lightweight and heavyweight fours. There are six sailors and five boxers, and a five-strong eventing team as well as the show jumper Denis Lynch.

Siobhán Byrne becomes the first woman to represent Ireland in Olympic fencing in 60 years, while Emma Davis becomes Ireland's first triathlon representative.

Ireland already had one swimmer qualified in Andrew Bree, who goes in the 200-metre backstroke, but the OCI on Tuesday night ratified the nomination of Nocher (20), from Down, and Cooney (18), from Dublin, who had come close to the A standard and are obvious prospects for the London Games of 2112.

The team will head for China in different groups over the coming weeks, and most will be based in acclimatisation camps at various destinations, including Vladivostok, Russia, and Matsui, Japan, from late July.

While the majority will be based in Beijing during the Games, which run from August 8th to 24th, the sailing team compete in the coastal city of Qingdao and the equestrian team in Hong Kong.

Only a small number of Irish, possibly eight, are set to participate in the opening ceremony, as the athletes and boxers will still be in their training camps.

But for Peelo, who qualified for Beijing by finishing 29th in the World Championships in New Zealand last March, the flag-bearer honour is nonetheless significant, and she follows eventing team member Niall Griffin, who carried the flag in Athens, and the runner Sonia O'Sullivan, who did the honours in Sydney.

"There was a limited number of athletes available, with a lot of them competing the first day," said OCI president Pat Hickey. "But Ciara was selected on her merits, and she's thrilled. It's a great honour, for sure."

Team Ireland Beijing 2008

ATHLETICS:Fionnuala Britton (3,000m chase); Alistair Cragg 1,500m/5,000m/10,000m; Jamie Costin (20k walk); Joanne Cuddihy (400m); Martin Fagan (marathon); David Gillick (400m); Colin Griffin (50k walk); Robert Heffernan (20k walk); Paul Hession (100m/200m); Olive Loughnane (20k walk); Róisín McGettigan (3,000m chase); Eileen O'Keeffe (hammer); Derval O'Rourke (100m hurdles)

Manager: Patsy McGonagle

Coaches: Max Jones, Stuart Hogg, Nick Dakin, Sean Cahill, Pat Ryan, Anne Keenan Buckley

BADMINTON:Scott Evans (singles); Chloe Magee (singles)

Manager: Donal O'Halloran

Coach: Jim Laugesen

BOXING:Paddy Barnes (light flyweight); Kenny Egan (light heavyweight); John Joe Joyce (light welterweight); John Joe Nevin (bantamweight); Darren Sutherland (middleweight)

Manager: Jim Walsh

Coaches: Billy Walsh, Zaur Antia

CANOEING:Eoin Rheinisch (canoe slalom) Manager: Deaglán Ó Drisceoil

Coach: Han Bijnen

CYCLING:Nicolas Roche (road race); Philip Deignan (road race); David O'Loughlin (individual pursuit); Robin Seymour (mountain bike);

Manager: Frank Campbell

Coach: Tommy Evans

Mechanic: Jonathan Cruise

Unaccredited coach: Pat O'Donnell

EQUESTRIAN:Denis Lynch (show jumping); Austin O'Connor, Geoff Curran, Patricia Ryan, Louise Lyons, Niall Griffin (all eventing)

Chef d'Equipe eventing: Ginny Elliot

Chef d'Equipe show jumping: Robert Splaine

Managers: Brian Mangan (eventing), Damian McDonald (show jumping)

Vet: Marcus Swail

FENCING:Siobhan Byrne: (sabre)

Manager: Nuala McGarrity

Coach: Vladimir Nazlymov

ROWING:Sean O'Neill, Jonno Devlin, Sean Casey, Cormac Folan (all coxless four); Paul Griffin, Richard Archibald, Gearóid Towey, Colin Moynihan (all lightweight coxless four)

Manager: Mike Heskin

Coaches: John Holland, Harald Jahrling

SAILING:Ciara Peelo (Laser Radial); Tim Goodbody (Finn); Gerald Owens, Philip Lawton (both 470); Peter O'Leary, Stephen Milne (both Star)

Manager: James O'Callaghan

Coaches: Aaron O'Grady, Chris Brittle, Ross Killian

SHOOTING:Derek Burnett (Olympic trap); Manager: Kevin Kilty

Coach: Peter Terry

SWIMMING:Andrew Bree: (200m breaststroke); Melanie Nocher (200m backstroke); Aisling Cooney (100m backstroke)

Manager/coach: Keith Bewley

TRIATHLON:Emma Davis

Manager/coach: Richard Stannard

ADMINISTRATION:chef de mission: Dermot Henihan; deputy chef de mission: Tom Rafter; chief executive officer: Stephen Martin; sports director: Martin Burke; media officer: Jack McGouran.

MEDICAL TEAM:chief medical officer: Dr Sean Gaine; medical officers: Dr Rod McLoughlin, Dr David Fegan, Dr Bill Cuddihy; head physiotherapist:

Dr Marie-Elaine; physiotherapists: Dr Phil Glasgow, Enda Whyte, Aidan Woods, Nessa Smyth, Sarah Jane McDonnell

UNACCREDITED MEDICAL TEAM:head physiologists: Dr Giles Warrington; Niamh Fitzpatrick; medical officer sailing: Conor Barry; physiotherapist sailing: Mark McCabe