56 athletes are in Australia, ready to compete in the Commonwealth Games and hopefully bring a few medals home to Norn Iron

The 2006 Commonwealth Games begin tomorrow morning at 9:00am (GMT) and it seemed an appropriate time to wish the best of luck to all 56 athletes flying the flag for Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth games in Melbourne. Unsurprisingly, our main medal hopes seem to be in boxing and shooting, while BBC sport claim 62 year-old grandmother Margaret Johnson to be "one of the most dominant names in women's bowls."

They'll be hoping to better Northern Ireland's performance in 2002 in Manchester, after which they returned home with 5 medals (2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze). The BBC have a list of Northern Ireland's "ones to watch" on their website.

Come on guys and girls - I'm sure you'll do us all proud.