THE Dublin International Sports Council (DISC) was set up in 1992 in response to the City Fathers who felt that Dublin was not exploiting the opportunities which sport can bring to a region.

DISC is a non profit, apolitical organisation which is solely funded by the private sector. Under the chairmanship of Dr A.J.F. O'Reilly, the council is committed to the development of Ireland's sporting infrastructure and the promotion of Dublin as an international sporting venue.

When the council first met, no one was surprised at the state of sport in Ireland, the lack of commercial administration, the huge gaps in our sporting infrastructure it was something each of us experienced daily.

When I was first approached to join DISC, a friend of mine said I would be fighting a losing battle. "Our sporting infrastructure is worse than Albania's." This is precisely why DISC was established.

With every successive government, Ireland has been promised facilities and funding which have rarely materialised.

How many times have we been promised a national 50 metre pool over the last 25 years?

What happened to the plans for the National Sports Arena which the Government spent fl.3 million investigating?

Why is 51 per cent of National Lottery revenue being spent on areas which were the responsibility of the Exchequer before 1987?

Why do our international athletes have to compete with the additional pressures of lack of funding?

Why, when sport plays such a significant part in the everyday lives of the Irish, are we so ridiculously lacking in sporting infrastructure?

How have we been so slow to recognise the socio economic benefits attached to sport which have been widely exploited by our European counterparts?

Many people will take the view that sport is not a priority when there are so many other areas of Irish life that require funding. On the surface this seems to be a valid point.

On further examination, however, it becomes very clear that sport is one area which should not continue to be relegated to the Department of Finance's list of secondary areas of funding.

The importance of sport in personal development cannot be disputed. It can provide a focus for a community, have positive effects on crime and health, be used as a catalyst for rejuvenation and infrastructural development, as a tourism product and a platform for international media coverage and promotion of an area.

At present, Irish sports policy focuses on "Sport for All", which is vital. However, this should be complemented by investment in infrastructure and sporting programmes.

THESE two strands should not be seen as mutually exclusive. The main problem lies in the lack of funding.

An example is the Government's Recreational Facilities Scheme.

In 1994, £3.65 million was made available for the refurbishment/ construction of local facilities.

Some 1,400 applications were received, totalling £57 million. The average grant received was £6,500. The policy of giving small amounts of money to large numbers of applicants, endemic in Irish subsidisation, was highlighted by the Arts Council recently as a method of "grooming people to failure".

A balance must be made between providing local facilities and international standard venues which have economic potential.

Ireland has an international hockey stadium and will have an international standard equestrian facility after the World Equestrian. Games in 1998.

But what Ireland desperately needs is a 10,000 seat multi purpose indoor arena which could perhaps be used normally as an ice rink, an international standard aquatics centre, a national rowing/canoeing centre and a national athletics stadium.

The provision of a 400 metre track in Croke Park, which from a sporting point of view will be one of the premium stadiums in Europe, would be a cost effective means of providing a facility we badly need.

To spend funds on a national venue which cannot exploit the opportunities of international competitions is a short term and flawed policy.

DISC ran a conference as part of an EU PACTE programme which highlighted how sport could be used as a means of urban renewal. Delegates from Paris, Barcelona and Munich showed how their cities had realised and exploited sport as a means of urban rejuvenation.

Barcelona used the Olympics as a means of condensing 25 years of city development and rejuvenation into the six year period leading up to the Games.

This has formed the basis for its second development programme which is concentrating on the city's port, inward investment and exporting.

St Denis, Paris, is one of the unemployment drug and crime black spots of the city. The construction of Grand Stade, in which he finals of the 1998 Soccer World Cup will be played, is being used as a catalyst for social and urban regeneration of the area the side of Cork, recognised the potential of sport and hosted the World Athletics Championships during the summer as a platform for globally repositioning the city.

Why can't we learn from these examples?

DISC won the commitment of the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) to base its European headquarters in Ireland.

ISHOF, the world guardians of swimming will underwrite the operational costs of the facility for the first five years, set up an endowment fund to cover any deficit after this period and will contribute £7 million of sports memorabilia for a European sports museum which will be housed on the premises.

It will also provide commercial administration and an international coaching team which will facilitate a transfer of skills. The facility is designed to accommodate both international competitions and the community with a strong commitment to those who benefit most from swimming, such as the disabled.

The proposal is unique in that it is designed to incorporate investment from both the public and private sector rather than burden the taxpayer.

The facility would attract through the reputation of 20,000 bed nights to the city in the first year.

This proposal, for which DISC has been lobbying for two years, and is now with the Government, represents our best and most cost effective chance of building a national aquatic centre.

If a decision is not made soon, the facility will be based in England and we will once again have failed to exploit a once in a lifetime opportunity.

CONSIDERING our sports policy to date, there is little wonder that the question of Dublin Olympics was dismissed out of hand by most people when it was first proposed in 1992.

However, DISC felt that more consideration should be given to the idea before it was relegated to the wood pile, and that the opportunities attached to the hosting of international sporting events should be examined more closely.

Twelve working groups were established, comprised of some of Ireland's leading experts in a diversity of areas such as transport accommodation, culture, telecommunications and venues who gave their expertise and time voluntarily.

These groups compared Dublin's present and proposed capabilities with Olympic requirements as a measure of the most comprehensive and demanding sporting standards.

DISC will be publishing a discussion document in the new year which will provide a platform for rational informed debate from all sections of the community.

If the public and the Government choose not to pursue a Dublin bid for the Games the exercise, at the very least, has provided an opportunity for a "think tank" examining the city over a broad variety of disciplines which should not be allowed go to waste.

Ireland's lack of commitment in the past has meant that there is a lack of impetus, energy and dynamism in sport today. We have to find new ways of funding and developing sport in Ireland.

Partnerships between the public and private sectors and national and international organisations, the design and implementation of a "stepladder" plan for constructing facilities, a definite sports strategy for the State and the exploitation of the economic benefits of sport should all be investigated.

For example, the Exchequer generated £462 million of revenue from tobacco sales in 1994. A dedicated tax of 10p from the existing tax on each packet of cigarettes would finance the construction of a 10,000 seater arena and a national aquatics centre within 12 months.

We have to explore new possibilities and opportunities to bring our sporting life from the last century into the 21st.