Ireland's efforts to cash in on the 2012 London Olympics have hit serious funding problems and it is feared that a chronic lack of development capital will leave us trailing in the race to attract foreign athletes for pre-competition training.

The London 2012 Task Force, set up in 2006 to examine ways that Ireland could benefit from the Olympics, recently reported that some of the crucial developments it recommended are now no longer feasible.

Ireland's hopes of attracting foreign teams are also being undermined by competition from other European countries and cities around the UK, which are offering a minimum of £20,000 (€23,000) for their commitment.

Key investment essential for Ireland to host qualifying events is simply not available – four out of five proposals have now been ruled out.

While capital expenditure across the Irish economy has hit on hard times, the government has been accused of "missing the boat" on spin-off opportunities to make money from the Olympic Games in three years' time.

Established in 2006, the London 2012 Task Force was asked to examine "all possible opportunities; identify priority areas of interest; and map out a strategy with a view to ensuring that Ireland can benefit to maximum extent possible from its proximity to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games".

In its initial report last year, it acknowledged that Ireland would have to achieve a high standard in order to compete for the Olympic spoils, noting that "very rigorous criteria are being set by the Olympic, Paralympic and London 2012 authorities in relation to training camps/facilities and venues".

"There are many potential sites in the UK and other countries in Europe and the competition to host teams will be intense."

The provision of training facilities alone were estimated to be worth up to €12.5m to the Irish economy, while related tourism was valued at €58m.

But how much of that cash dream is now over?

According to the task force's action plan published last February – a follow-up document to key recommendations in its initial report – much of the proposed investment in sporting facilities is now deemed unfeasible.

The initial report in 2008 noted: "The quality of Ireland's sporting infrastructure will be a key determinant of whether or not we can have realistic expectations of being a destination of choice for athletes completing their preparations for the Olympics.

"The objective was to zero in on existing facilities which were deemed to be of Olympic/Paralympic standard and the upgrades which would be required to bring facilities at other centres up to the requisite standard."

Five major facilities were identified for potential use, but three of those will now miss out on crucial funding from the state.

The University of Limerick (UL) sought around two-thirds of the near €30m cost of a phase one redevelopment of sporting facilities including rugby, hockey, soccer and rowing. UCD wanted €20m of government funding for its own €76m redevelopment including a 50-metre pool. Neither will now receive that funding.

Sports facilities 'not feasible'

Dublin City University (DCU) was due to make a submission for its own sports-facility funding but at the time of the release of last year's report, it had not sent in its proposal.

The task force asked that priority be given to the completion of phase one of the National Sports Campus at Abbotstown to "provide ideal sports and ancillary facilities including accommodation for both Irish and international athletes". The task force action plan simply states that this is "not feasible in [the] current economic climate".

By contrast, however, the National Aquatic Centre – another of the main facilities highlighted – is now "fully operational" and is available for training and for qualifying events. Facilities at University College Cork (UCC) were also discussed in the initial report but not mentioned in February's report.

According to Indecon International Economic Consultants, commissioned to estimate the value of the Olympics to Ireland, the use of all five facilities could see "an estimated gross economy-wide impact of almost €12.5m" between 2009 and 2012 – the training cycle for the games.

"The realisation of the sporting benefits will be critically dependant upon the application of a strategic and targeted approach to investment in the development of world-class facilities which would yield benefits in terms of attracting Olympic and Paralympic level athletes to Ireland to engage in training and boosting general levels of participation in Irish sport," it said in its report last year.

"Time scales in planning for events means that any significant new investment which is not already in the pipeline is unlikely to impact on overseas decision-making.

"Facilities or plans for facilities together with their funding and completed construction date need to be in place by the end of the Beijing 2008 Olympics and no later than 2009.

"Any slippage in timetables on investment in major sports infrastructure projects which is underway would adversely affect benefits for Ireland."

Perhaps of greater concern is the dramatic drop-off in proposed qualifying events to be held in Ireland ahead of the games.

"Of the five events identified in the task- force report, the hockey event is the only one still viable," the action plan states.

"There is no option for funding for other sporting events under the sports tourism initiative in the current economic climate", although the potential for the world youth sailing in July 2012 is being considered."

The other sporting events now ruled out include the Uefa under-21 soccer championships, the world amateur boxing championships, the European eventing championships and the national long course swimming championships. All four events, the report estimates, could have generated at total of €31m in gross expenditure or €4.2m in net economic impact.

Lack of investment in preparing for the Olympics has drawn criticism of the government.

Mary Upton, Labour's spokeswoman on arts, sports and tourism, has described it as a missed opportunity that will not come around again in the foreseeable future.

"We have missed the boat in terms of the opportunity that was there for Irish sports and tourism," she said.

"If we had put in place even some of these recommendations then we would have had the opportunity to attract these top-class athletes.

"The time to be proactive about this was immediately after the London bid for the Olympics.

"Our next-door neighbour is holding this event and we are doing nothing about it. I wouldn't be demanding that every one of these opportunities be put in place but how long have we been talking about the sports campus? I think it's a great shame and an opportunity missed.

"Our backs are against the wall in relation to tourism and we are trying to dream up every opportunity. This was a different opportunity and it will never come again. This won't happen in the UK again for a very long time."

Tourism initiatives have also been identified as crucial if Ireland is to benefit from the Olympics and they too have been hit.

The report states that there are tourism opportunities before, during and after the Olympic games but it stresses that "to maximise the probability of realising these benefits there is a need to ensure that tourism agencies have in place effective marketing and promotion strategies targeted at the relevant market segments".

Tourism boost

Indecon estimated that the "Irish economy could realise some €58m in gross additional tourism receipts, taking into account pre-games sports training and event-related tourism activity, additional visitors to Ireland during the period when the games are being staged and post-games legacy benefits through repeat tourism."

However, while "specific additional modest and targeted funding for the purposes of promotion of tourism and cultural activity" was advised in the run up to the games, this too has fallen by the wayside.

The action plan on the task force report simply states: "Additional funding not feasible in current economic climate. Any funding for this purpose will need to come out of existing resources."

However, discussions are going on between agencies and arts councils, specifically in relation to a proposed 'Cultural Olympiad'. A number of suggestions have been put forward, primarily to capitalise on Irish cultural events.

One document suggests: "Might it be possible in 2012 to compress the timeline within which a number of existing events take place, namely the Irish Film and Television Awards (Iftas), the Impac Dublin Literary Award, the Meteor Music Awards and possibly the Fleadh Ceoil and some other competitive arts events and bill these collectively as a 'Cultural Olympiad'?

"Also, might it be possible to encourage the organisers of the Iftas to expand into an international event for 2012 so that productions from overseas could represent the countries in which they were produced?

"Perhaps other existing cultural events might have a competitive element introduced – Dublin Theatre Festival, Wexford Opera etc to further expand the concept."

One sector likely to benefit from the Olympics is Ireland's export market, according to the task force.

"Irish business will benefit from the expenditures related to the preparation for and staging of the London 2012 Games through additional exports to the tune of between €100.5m and €139.3m in gross terms over the period 2005 to 2016," it said.

"It is estimated that London 2012 will result in a net economic impact through the export sector amounting to between €12.6m and €17.5m overall between 2005 and 2016. These estimates are based on existing trade ratios involving Irish exports into UK markets."

'Actively pursuing'

Enterprise Ireland has been credited with "actively pursuing" opportunities in this area. A spokesman for the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) said that while they may not feature amongst the key target areas outlined in the report, there are other sporting teams who could be attracted to Ireland.

Equestrian sports, boxing and rowing all offer strong opportunities for Ireland in terms of attracting foreign teams. The OCI is currently fielding enquiries to the task force, he said.

A task force spokesperson was not available for comment on the virtual collapse of its plans, but a statement from the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism admitted that times are bad and that the knock-on effects seem insurmountable.

"On the sporting side, the task force report puts forward proposals for investment in sports facilities which would increase our attractiveness as a training destination for Olympic teams in the lead-up to and during the games," it said.

"However, given the current economic conditions, it is unlikely that the suggested resources will be available."