Galway port for 2012 Volvo Ocean Race?

dilallio

According to today's Galway Indepndent, Galway's 2012 VOR bid is under threat because the Government won't commit to funding €8 Million Euro.

Source

How much money are the Government commiting to Jackie Healy Rae's 42 bed hospital in Kenmare when they already have a hospital in Tralee.

I only wish our local politicians were as influential. The VOR will bring in far more money to Galway than what is costs to host the event.

PopeBuckfastXVI

dilallio wrote: »

I only wish our local politicians were as influential. The VOR will bring in far more money to Galway than what is costs to host the event.

I wish our government made decisions in the national interest, not in the interest of fulfilling the ransom demands of selfish and insular 'local' independents.

snubbleste

Shure if it is all good, then every citizen in the town will not mind propping up €100 to attract the event..

TobyZiegler

According to Lets Do It Galway the last years Volvo Ocean race raised the following:

€55.8m economic impact on Galway and Ireland

€36.5m of spending by race spectators from outside the local region

650,000 visits to Race Village and Salthill

TV audience globally of 1.327 billion and Radio listenership of 234 million

99% of international visitors would recommend Galway as a holiday destination


Seems like a no brainer to spend €8million on what is an amazing event to attract to our country.

dilallio

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

I wish our government made decisions in the national interest, not in the interest of fulfilling the ransom demands of selfish and insular 'local' independents.

I agree with you fully on this. But unfortunately, it ain't gonna happen any day soon. The majority of politicians will continue to put local and sometimes personal interests ahead of the national interest, as long as we continue to vote them in and demand them to fulfill our 'local' needs. This will never change.

In an ideal world, Minister Cullen would be absolutely right to place the onus on Bord Failte to work within existing budgets.

But we're not living in an ideal world. Unfortunately, we are competing against other projects for a small pot of money, and in this imperfect world, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask our local politicians to step up and use whatever influence they have to get the funding for this project.

As Tip O'Neill once said "All politics is local"

s_carnage

snubbleste wrote: »

Shure if it is all good, then every citizen in the town will not mind propping up €100 to attract the event..

Why?? Ridiculous argument!!

Should every event in the country be paid for by the local people? Would that mean then that any earnings from the event would be shared by the locals?!?! :rolleyes:

Predalien

I really don't see how the government could be expected to provide the money for event in the current climate, the figures boasting what these events are worth are always exaggerated and priorities have to lie elsewhere at the moment.

happyoutscan

Predalien wrote: »

I really don't see how the government could be expected to provide the money for event in the current climate, the figures boasting what these events are worth are always exaggerated and priorities have to lie elsewhere at the moment.

Yeah, and no doubt (ahem) this government will utilize these monies correctly.:rolleyes:

mink_man

sure theyd make more money than that back the fools

mikom

dilallio wrote: »

According to today's Galway Indepndent, Galway's 2012 VOR bid is under threat

Could have held it for free on the stretch of road just after Newells roofing in Carnmore before Christmas...

vulcan57

Predalien wrote: »

I really don't see how the government could be expected to provide the money for event in the current climate,

Ok, but in the last budget this government drastically cut everything it could get its hands on and it was the lesser well of that suffered the most. A couple of days after that budget the same government announces that it is giving 100 million euro to a fund to help the poorer countries of this world combat global warming. They are giving millions to Haiti after the earthquake. Before you all start saying that I am begrudging these payments and "down with me" and the like, I will point out that I believe that combating global warming is vital for this planet and those poor people that have suffered so much in Haiti deserve as much help as possible, and I have given myself. My point is that at the end of the day charity starts at home!!!! and a comparatively measly amount of 8 million euro would boost the economy of Galway and promote, not only Galway, but Ireland as a whole to a world wide audience.

lion_bar

s_carnage wrote: »

Why?? Ridiculous argument!!

Should every event in the country be paid for by the local people? Would that mean then that any earnings from the event would be shared by the locals?!?! :rolleyes:

I agree i'll chip in if i get a cut of the VAT on sales of ice cream, beer & hotel rooms.

TobyZiegler

Predalien wrote: »

I really don't see how the government could be expected to provide the money for event in the current climate, the figures boasting what these events are worth are always exaggerated and priorities have to lie elsewhere at the moment.

Even if the figures given are exaggerated I think every economist would agree that at the very very least it would be worth more than the €8million the government put in. Add this to the increase in profile for Galway and Ireland and it just has to be worth it in my eyes.

Predalien

vulcan57 wrote: »

Ok, but in the last budget this government drastically cut everything it could get its hands on and it was the lesser well of that suffered the most. A couple of days after that budget the same government announces that it is giving 100 million euro to a fund to help the poorer countries of this world combat global warming. They are giving millions to Haiti after the earthquake. Before you all start saying that I am begrudging these payments and "down with me" and the like, I will point out that I believe that combating global warming is vital for this planet and those poor people that have suffered so much in Haiti deserve as much help as possible, and I have given myself. My point is that at the end of the day charity starts at home!!!! and a comparatively measly amount of 8 million euro would boost the economy of Galway and promote, not only Galway, but Ireland as a whole to a world wide audience.

I really don't think the ocean race can be compared with a charity, of course Galway needs a boost economically but the government funding the bid at this time would be completely wrong, especially considering the cuts that have been made in far more serious areas. If the race brings that much business to the area then surely local businesses are the ones who should be sourcing the investment and funding, considering they'll be the main beneficiaries. I'd love to see the event and other events of a similar scale in Galway but if it is to happen I'd much rather see the money raised through local initatives and sponsorship.

TheCosmicFrog

The real problem is not hosting the event, the cost is in supporting the boat as an entry and the crew, both offshore and on. The boat itself can run into the millions(€).

JohnCleary

It would be handy if they could get the first batch of promised money from Failte Ireland before even thinking about trying to get anything in 2012. There are small companies out there still waiting to be paid for their services from lat summer.

Mr_A

It seems a no-brainer that this should be funded as the government should make the money back in increased economic activity.

On the other hand if it's worth that much to the businesses of the region maybe it would make sense for them get organized to step in and make it happen.

vulcan57

Mr_A wrote: »

It seems a no-brainer that this should be funded as the government should make the money back in increased economic activity.

On the other hand if it's worth that much to the businesses of the region maybe it would make sense for them get organized to step in and make it happen.

Totally agree that the businesses should do more as they are the ones that will profit in the long run. Problem is, as far as I can see, that the other 2 contenders for this stop over have the backing of their governments and that is going to go a long way in the decision making.

galwayrush

It's a no brainer as said above, the VAT return on the spending alone would make a massive profit for the Government input, aw well, wonder if the money would be under threat if it was in Dublin.:rolleyes:

biko

Yeah, the Dublin government might not be as eager to part with money for events over here.

joeKel73

TobyZiegler wrote: »

€55.8m economic impact on Galway and Ireland

€36.5m of spending by race spectators from outside the local region

And where did all that money go? To the pubs, hotels and shops. So surely it is in their interest to get together and invest in this if they're going to get more money back in return...

Greaney

On the other hand if it's worth that much to the businesses of the region maybe it would make sense for them get organized to step in and make it happen.[/QUOTE]

Actually local buisnesses did step up to make it happen in 2009. Some of them didn't get their money back during the event, knew they wouldn't, but were happy to see Galway put on the map and figured that it was worth it in the long term. They also said they did it because they love the town that supports their buisness (I'm thinking of one local buisness person who like many others coughed up hundreds- over €500 each I think) and they don't own a bar or hotel but a craft shop. They weren't in the volvo village (rent was too much) and hence didn't sell any more during the race.

Arnold Layne

Are we not forgetting that one of the main reasons why the Volvo Ocean Race was susccessful in Galway was due to the 2 weeks of fine weather that we had? What are the chances that the same will happen next time round?

biko

Global warming will sort that part out.
My knee tells me it'll be a scorcher of a summer.

galwayrush

foto joe wrote: »

And where did all that money go? To the pubs, hotels and shops. So surely it is in their interest to get together and invest in this if they're going to get more money back in return...

........and back to the Government through VAT and various taxes, :rolleyes:

Dunjohn

Declan Varley in the Advertiser said we should know by the time we read his editorial if the government is going to support this or not. Do we? Did anybody hear? Application deadline's tonight, he says, so the Cabinet was going to have a think today.

Sniipe

What time will a decision be made today?

dilallio

Not sure what time.

Found more info here regarding the dail discussion, although it says nothing new:

http://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2010-01-20.805.0


Edit: The VOR has a Facebook Page - any news / decisions might be posted there:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Volvo-Ocean-Race/137241232436

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

This shouldn't even be an issue. As galwayrush said, if it was scheduled for Dublin I'd be inteested to see if there would be this much tossing around involved.

Last summer's stopover was a massive success, and really put the city on the map, being the most successful stopover of the entire race (when you take into account that Galway is only a fraction the size of most of the other cities that hosted a stopover). It will be a crying shame if we don't consolidate the great work from last summer.

combat5

Does anyone Know did they meet the deadline or is it a no go for galway and to ocean race

Shanley

http://www.galwaynews.ie/11024-government-commits-4-million-euro-galway-volvo-race-bid

Things seem to be looking a bit better for us! Not all the money but by the sounds of it enough to secure it!