Breen seeks Olympic spin-off

Government efforts to promote Ireland as a base for participating teams ahead of next year’s Olympics in London have stepped up a gear with the news that the Minister for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring TD, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee, Pat Breen, have joined forces and are to intensify their efforts to boost the Olympic tourism spin-off for this country.
Minister Ring has assumed the chair of the London 2012 co-ordinating group, which comprises representatives of the various Government departments and the sports, tourism and cultural agencies.
This week, he enlisted the support of Mr Breen.
“Given our close proximity to London, I believe that we have the potential to benefit here in this country,” Deputy Breen said. “The Government has already eased restrictions for visitors from 14 countries who have obtained visas to enter the UK for short-term visits to travel here to visit from this July until October 2012 next. There is the potential to divert people to Ireland who cannot be accommodated in the London area and on top of that the tourism spin-off could be greater if we could attract Olympic teams and athletes to base themselves here in advance of the games,” Deputy Breen said on Tuesday.
“Indeed, here in the Mid-West Region alone, we have daily access to London from Shannon Airport, Limerick University on our doorstep and a host of sporting fields and facilities available. I will be meeting with many diplomatic representatives from many of the countries that will participate in the games in my role as chairman of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee,” Deputy Breen added. 
“Next week, we will meet with the ambassador of Mexico to discuss the potential of Ireland as a location for teams from his country,” he concluded.