By John Haughey BBC Sport

McKee needs to run a personal best to qualify for Beijing

Belfast 400 metre runner Paul McKee will travel with several Irish Olympic Games hopefuls to a training camp in Portugal later this month.

McKee says he will head to the Algarve on 28 April in good heart after an encouraging winter.

The 30-year-old believes that he has been rejuvenated after his switch to new coach Stuart Hogg last autumn.

"The intensity of training is a lot higher and all the signs are very good for this year," McKee told BBC Sport.

The Belfastman will be joined in Monte Gordo by Hogg and other athletes guided by the Scottish-based coach.

These include Irish 100m and 200m record-holder Paul Hession, who made his breakthrough into genuine world-class in 2007, and the improving 400m runner Brian Doyle.

"There will also be athletes from other countries at the training camp in Portugal as well so it should be a very useful two weeks."

Geneva is where David Gillick ran the Irish record last year and it has the reputation of being a pretty fast track Paul McKee

It will be McKee's second warm-weather training stint of the year as he spent three weeks in South Africa in January with his coach and a number of other athletes.

"I got some good work done during those three weeks and I'm looking forward to more of the same in Portugal."

The Portugal camp ends on 12 May but McKee won't be heading home as he plans to have his first outdoor race of the season five days later in Dakar, Senegal.

"It will be a good Grand Prix 2 meeting and it's a chance to get in a decent race early enough in the season.

"I then am down to run in Geneva on 31 May and it's possible that I may be able to organise another race for in between.

"Geneva is where David Gillick ran the Irish record last year and it has the reputation of being a pretty fast track with wide bends suited to 400m runners."

McKee needs to improve his personal best of 45.58 set in 2002 by .03secs to guarantee himself a place in Beijing.

I'm definitely in better shape this year Paul McKee

The 2003 world indoor championship bronze medallist says a time within a second of the Olympic A standard in his opening outing in Senegal will indicate that things are on track.

"Last season I opened up with something in the mid-47s which left me with too much to do (to get the World Championship standard).

"But I'm definitely in better shape this year and the confidence is a lot higher after all the indicators I have been getting from training."

In addition to competing in the individual 400m in Beijing, McKee is hoping to be part of an Irish 4x400m relay challenge.

McKee estimates that two clockings of 3:03.50 will probably be enough to get the Irish into the top 16 in the world rankings which would guarantee Olympic participation.

"We set the Irish record of 3:03.73 in Munich in 2002 and I think we are capable of giving it a good go.

"I suppose logically, we probably have only a 25 per cent chance of making it but we all very committed and will give it our all."

The key dates for the Irish relay ambitions will be their opening outing in Namur, Belgium on 14 June and the European Cup meeting a week later.