ATTEMPTS to save Ireland's plan to play host to the 1998 World Equestrian Games have failed. Last night the Minister for Tourism and Trade, Enda Kenny, informed the directors of WEG Ireland Ltd that no further Government funding would be available.

The WEG board is to meet tomorrow to wind up the company. The games will now be offered to Britain and Germany, underbidders when the fixture was awarded to Ireland in 1994.

Representatives WEG Ireland met with the Minister last night in a final effort to secure additional Government backing for the £10.9 million project, but the lack of concrete evidence of sponsorship commitments for the Games gave the Minister no reason for a change of heart, according to a Department source.

WEG Ireland had delivered a new submission to the Minister last Friday, but Kenny did not see the paper until Monday during a trip to the Far East and America. A source within the Department stated that neither the paper nor the presentation made by the WEG team last night had provided a basis on which the Minister could ask the Government to reconsider its decision to cease financial support for the project.

The decision to cap Government funding for the 1998 Games at the £500,000 paid out over the past two years was made at Cabinet level at the end of March. A concerted campaign of political lobbying over the past month seemed likely to force a review of the decision but, despite intense efforts on the part of WEG Ireland, none of the projected £6 million sponsorship budget could be secured due to the lack of contractual evidence of television coverage.

The International Equestrian Federation (FEI), which voted in favour of the Irish hid in Tampa two years ago, gave WEG Ireland a two week stay of execution (which expires tomorrow) to try to reverse the Government decision but will now be calling in the £1.5 million bond put up by Bord Failte as a guarantee should Ireland renege on its pledge to hold the Games here in 1998.

Speaking after last night's meeting, the WEG Ireland chief executive, John Donlon, expressed his bitter disappointment at the collapse of the project. "We addressed all the concerns mentioned in the Dail debate, but it boils down to lack of sponsorship, and declarations of interest weren't enough for the Minister."

Conor Crowley, chairman of WEG Ireland, was also devastated. "We thought we had a good case and we thought that sufficient pressure had been applied, but basically the Minister's mind was already made up."

Crowley will now be called upon, in his capacity as FEI treasurer, to meet with the British and German representatives in Badminton on Sunday, along with FEI secretary general Professor Bo Helander.

Professor Helander last nights expressed his incredulity at the Government's refusal to continue funding the project. Speaking from his Irish house in Wicklow, Professor Helander said. "I just cannot understand it, it's absolutely unbelievable. I really thought that there was some hope."

Following the collapse of the French scheme to hold the 1994 Games in Paris, the FEI made national government support a prerequisite for all bidders for the 1998 fixture. Charlie McCreevy, the then Minister for Tourism and Trade, was a member of the Irish team that travelled to Tampa and clinched the votes in favour of Ireland with a pledge of £1.5 million of Government funding for the project.

Lord Carew, president of the ground jury at this week's Badminton three day event, was appalled by the news. "I was a member of the bureau that awarded the games to Ireland on the understanding of Government commitment. This is a total disaster and a tragedy for Ireland," he said.