Hickey made the admission that the cases involving swimmer Michelle De Bruin and show jumper Cian O'Connor had "tainted" Ireland when addressing TDs - the country's equivalent of MPs - at Leinster House during a 90-minute meeting.

 

De Bruin won four medals, including three gold, at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta amid widespread speculation that she was using banned performance-enhanced drugs.

 

She never failed a test but was banned in 1998 after being found guilty of tampering with a urine sample she had given.

 

O'Connor won Ireland's only gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics only to be stripped of it after his horse Waterford Crystal tested positive for drugs.

 

Hickey said: "We have been tainted in Ireland with a history of problems at the Olympic Games and we have a bad reputation internationally.

 

"It's bad enough doping humans but when we start to dope the animals it gets even worse.

 

"Though for once and for all, we sincerely hope that there will be no hint of any drug taking at the Beijing Games."

 

Hickey also laughed off suggestions from TDs that Ireland could one day bid to stage the Olympics.

 

He said: "We will never ever have an Olympic Games in Ireland and I want to make that very clear, despite what certain people might think in the country.

 

"But that's all hogwash.

 

"The nearest we will ever have to an Olympic Games in Ireland is the London Games in 2012.

 

"These will be like home Games because we're in the same area of the world, same climatic conditions, same language and very similar culture."