THE Republic of Ireland manager, Mick McCarthy, is on the trail of new talent to boost the team's chances of reaching the World Cup finals in France in 1998.

McCarthy returned yesterday from a trip to Germany where he watched Karlsruhe's Sean Dundee - a South African - in action against Fortuna Dusseldorf on Wednesday night.

"With a name like that he's got to have Irish connections, and our initial research indicates he could be qualified for us through grand parentage," said McCarthy.

"I've already had good reports about him and it appears he has scored lots of goals in the German league. Last night's game was a cup semi final and, to be honest, he didn't get a kick even though Karlsruhe won 2-0.

"But I'll be following up on him and watching him again. Once we establish for sure that he's qualified for Ireland I'll be talking to him to see if he's interested."

McCarthy, whose opening game as manager is against Russia in Dublin on March 7th is adamant he must introduce fresh blood into an ageing squad.

He is also likely to alter the shape and tactics of the team, probably playing a three man back line.

But he will not summarily ditch long serving members of the team.

"I can draw on the experience of people like Paul McGrath while we are bedding down new ideas. He would be invaluable and from what I've seen, he's still doing a very good job for Aston Villa. In my view, age doesn't matter if you are still good enough.

"But of course it is clear we've got to have some younger legs. I've already been examining the possibilities and asking for research to be done on players who, though born in England or other countries, might have Irish ancestry.

"I still think it is very sad we missed out on players like Noel Whelan at Coventry and Kevin Gallen at QPR, who were qualified to play for Ireland but probably came under pressure to declare for England because their clubs did not want too many non English players in respect of European club competitions.

"Those restrictions have been lifted by UEFA now, but probably too late for us. The search will go on, though."

. Altair Ramos, a coach with Brazilian club Sao Paulo, is recovering in intensive care after being struck by lightning during a training session. Ramos, 38, was given the kiss of life by a television reporter after being knocked to the ground by the bolt during training on Wednesday.

Ramos passed out and was given first aid by the reporter, who then drove him to hospital. His condition is now said to be stable.