Irish basketball may soon have its very own "Dream Team" thanks to a new international rule which comes into effect on July 1st. From then, the nationality rule will be changed so that the residency rule and waiting period will be abolished and anyone with Irish citizenship can play for the national team with immediate effect.

That, of course, means that any of our Irish-American players with dual citizenship are eligible. At the moment, there are approximately 60 such players on the professional European circuit, many of whom would have the ability to greatly enhance the Irish squad.

Before now, if they weren't born here, they had to be playing here for a number of years. So the rule, which applies to both the men's and women's teams, is likely to bring about a scenario similar to Jack Charlton's soccer team - only more heavily weighted by Americans.

The only downside is that the number of Irish-based players currently with the national squad is sure to decrease. But we can expect to see some significant international results in the next couple of years. Bring on the Americans.