Drugs in Sport: The Irish Sports Council have stuck to a new "name and shame" policy by releasing the identity of the rugby player who tested positive for cocaine last December.

In line with the strict guidelines laid out in the World Anti-Doping Code, Ciarán Mooney has been suspended for two years.

A three-man anti-doping disciplinary panel determined Mooney, of Thomond RFC, had the banned substance in his urine sample, taken after the match against Old Crescent in Rosbrien on December 4th, 2004.

"The panel found that, contrary to Article 2.1 of the Irish Anti-Doping Rules, the presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolite, cocaine, was found in a sample of his urine collected in-competition testing," read a Sports Council statement.

Mooney has 14 days to appeal the ban, which was handed down at by a panel made up of Paul Gallagher SC (chairman), Jack Watson (sports administrator) and Dr Derek McGrath (medical).

If he does appeal, his club will not support the action.

"We fully acknowledge the decision of the Sports Council and are fully supportive. Everyone is aware of the rules and, if broken, you must accept the consequences," said a Thomond spokesman.

Mooney is the second person to test positive for cocaine in Irish sport in the last 12 months; Glanmire's American basketball player Adriana Spears was the first. This led to spokesman Paul McDermott stressing the social aspect of the drug is not the Sports Council's business.

"We are conscious that cocaine is a social drug and are not sitting in moral judgment on people's lifestyles, but it is on the banned list."