Power given the all-clear for Lisbon

Seamus Power's participation in Sunday's European Cross Country Championships at Lisbon was confirmed yesterday only after another consultation with the Limerick physiotherapist Ger Hartmann.

Hartmann, who is in the course of moving his international operation from Florida to Limerick, was able to reassure Power that a hip injury sustained when winning the national inter-counties championship at Tinryland has cleared.

It is a timely boost for the selectors who, in the absence of Catherina McKiernan from the womens' team, are looking to the Clare man for a big individual performance to lift the morale of the Irish squad.

Power, hugely impressive when retaining the inter-counties title, finished 13th in last year's European race in Brussels but was confident of a top 10 placing on Sunday until injury struck.

"Now that I've been given the all clear physically, it's a question of re-adjusting mentally, but if I run as well as I did in Carlow, I'll be happy," he said. "It was not until today that I was told I could run and now I've 72 hours to get myself fully focused."

Earlier, David Burke of Mullingar had been forced out of the team because of 'flu. Coincidentally, the man to benefit from that misfortune is his clubmate, Tom McGrath, who only just failed to make the original team when finishing sixth at Tinryland.

The men's senior team is completed by the three Dubliners, Peter Matthews, Noel Cullen and Colm de Burca who in their different ways enriched the Carlow race with the quality of their performances. For Matthews, it was the convincing proof that he has now rediscovered the formula which brought him a national title some years ago: for Cullen further testimony that he is holding his early season form, and for de Burca an opportunity, eagerly taken, of proving that he has made the transition from junior to senior competition with some aplomb.

Jon Brown, who defied the odds and the critics who doubted his stamina to win last year's race, is not defending the title but in Keith Cullen, England will still have a worthy challenger for the top spot. Portugal, led by the Castro twins, are favourites to take the team award.

Inevitably, the absence of McKiernan, winner of the inaugural European championship in 1994, will be seen as devaluing the women's team. That is the measure of the athlete who has won the Cross Grand Prix on four occasions and yet, it ought not detract from the credentials of the four women making the trip to Lisbon.

Teresa Duffy, strong and authoritative, has rarely looked better than when leading all the way to win in Tinryland and immediately behind her Maureen Harrington and Annette Kealy did well enough to suggest that they, too, are capable of benefiting from the step-up in class on Sunday.

Then there are the claims of the accomplished Blarney woman Valerie Vaughan, who has been recalled from California for this race. Vaughan was unable to defend her inter-counties title but after running so well in the world championship in Turin she will command a lot of respect here.

Gareth Turnbull, the sturdy Belfast student, makes a second consecutive appearance in the men's junior race in which he will be joined by the two Finn Valley athletes, Barry Harron and Simon Ward, and Monaghan's Enda Johnson.

Anne Marie Larkin of Tullamore and Marie Lynch from Dundrum are the leading Irish challengers for the women's junior race for which Kathryn Casserly and Carolyn Daly are also entered.

The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will participate in the annual GOAL mile run at Santry on Christmas morning. For the first time since the event was inaugurated 16 years ago a series of timed runs will be held at Santry between 10 and 11 a.m. The main event, as usual, will take place at Belfield where the programme runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.