Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I am glad to raise one of the real good news stories in respect of sport and economics to have taken place in the past 12 months and which I believe has not received sufficient recognition of its success. Many people perceive sailing to be a minority sport that may be exclusive to those who are lucky enough to be able to afford to buy a boat. The Volvo Ocean Race stopover or visit to Galway, which took place last summer over a two-week period from the end of May to the beginning of June, blew that entire concept out of the water. There was a net benefit to the economy of Galway and the western region in general of just under €60 million over those two weeks. A total of 600,000 visits were made to the race camp in Galway and to Salthill. Almost 90,000 people came from outside Galway and from abroad to visit the city of Galway and Galway Bay as a venue for sailing and for recreation. Moreover, we were blessed with fantastic weather at the time, as well as a large group of both volunteers and professionals, who made it all work well. The experiences during those two weeks of everyone to whom I have spoken have been highly positive.

We struck gold with the Galway stopover for the Volvo Ocean Race. This race has cumulative television and radio audiences of 1.3 billion and approximately 235 million, respectively, and has been recognised by Bord Fáilte and other bodies as the biggest sporting tourism event since the Ryder Cup in 2006. If one considers the recognition afforded to the success of the Ryder Cup in Ireland, one begins to realise the potential of such an event, which no one outside sporting or sailing circles had expected. Although 90% of those who visited during this period knew nothing whatsoever about sailing, this constitutes a great example of how a relatively small Government sponsorship of €8 million could produce a return of approximately €60 million, as well as being a huge promotional event for Galway and the west of Ireland.

The race starts again in 2011 and we must ensure that Galway as a destination again is factored into the organisers' thinking for the next race. As the decision will be made by mid-March this year, the Government must campaign actively to ensure this happens because there is a lot of competition for Galway this time around. However, Galway was recognised by the organisers as being the most successful stopover of the last race and we must ensure this happens again the next time around.

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