The first wave of the English rugby army invasion hit Dublin last night in preparation for the mother of all battles, England versus Ireland for the Six Nations Championship.
Sunday's historic international will provide a major boost to the tourism sector, which is feeling the pinch from the war on Iraq.
The influx of thousands of fans to the capital this weekend will mean a bonanza for hotels, restaurants, pubs and other businesses, Mr Frank Magee, chief executive of Dublin Tourism, said yesterday.
He estimates that Dublin's 40,000 accommodation places will be full this weekend. He also predicts that visitors will be spending generously in the city's pubs and restaurants. "The English are very good spenders," he commented.
He said British rugby supporters who don't have tickets will also be travelling to Dublin to soak up the atmosphere.
Some 16,000 supporters are expected to travel from England, and several thousand Irish supporters are expected to converge on Dublin from other parts of the country, including the North.
According to Mr Declan Martin, policy director with Dublin Chamber of Commerce, the match will be worth €20 million to Dublin.
The decision to play the game on a Sunday is one which Mr Martin says will benefit Dublin businesses, as many people decided to travel on Friday and spend two or three nights in the city. Irrespective of the result on Sunday, hotels, restaurants and pubs look set to be the big winners this weekend. The Jurys Doyle hotel group has some 2,100 beds throughout the city, all of which have been booked in advance.
"We are fortunate that demand at an early stage for this game was very, very strong and, consequently, we have been full for many weeks in all of the hotels," said Mr Niall Geoghegan, group marketing and sales director.
"The Ireland-England home international is really one of the highlights of the calendar year."
The IRFU will be another big winner. In addition to the 49,500 supporters attending the game, another 10 million people are expected to watch on television, while ticket sales are expected to gross about €1.7 million.
The large attendance at matches like this increases the pressure for a new stadium, according to an IRFU spokesman Mr John Redmond.
He said it would be possible to fill a 60,000- or 65,000-capacity stadium for big internationals.
"We would fill that even for the main matches. You wouldn't have to be going for Triple Crowns," he says.
Travel services to and from Dublin have been heavily booked for the weekend.
A spokesman for Irish Ferries said bookings for this weekend were very heavy, while Ryanair will carry about 30,000 passengers from the UK this weekend.
Iarnród Éireann will be providing a number of additional services for the match, with special trains from Cork, Limerick, Dundalk and Belfast. Aer Lingus is providing extra flights from the UK.