The Minister for Health has requested that athletes from five countries affected by the SARS virus do not travel to Ireland for the Speical Olympics next month.
The countries are China, Taiwan, Hong-Kong, the Philippines and Singapore.
A spokesman for the Games Organising Committee said they were shocked and disappointed by the decision.
Micheal Martin had met senior officials from his Department for discussions on the SARS virus.
The announcement was made shortly before teatime today.
Earlier, the Department of Health said it was strongly advising people not to travel to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan because of the SARS epidemic.
Case confirmed in UK
A case of SARS has been confirmed in Britain for the first time today, but the patient was said to have recovered.
Health officials confirming the diagnosis stressed that there was no risk of the patient infecting others.
The patient was one of eight people in all who have been classified as probable SARS cases in Britain since the outbreak of the virus.
Four people have been removed from the list to date, leaving three probables and the confirmed case announced today.
There have been no previous cases of confirmed SARS in the country.
Cost for tourism
This afternoon, the International Labour Organisation said that the SARS outbreak could cost the global tourism industry around five million jobs this year.
The ILO is a United Nations agency which monitors employment throughout the world.
Ahead of a summit of international travel industry leaders in Portugal, it warned that SARS, international terrorism and the economic downturn, have already led to the loss of 11 million jobs.
