The extensive exposure from television coverage of the Nations Cup is one of the main reasons Fáilte Ireland has sponsored the Dublin Horse Show.
The tourism board got real value yesterday for the €300,000 or so it invests in the show. The Irish showed off their best during the hotly-contested competition, which is the jewel in the crown of the horse show.
Equestrian tourism is a growing industry which, in 2004, generated revenue of more than €30.4 million from the 31,000 equestrian visitors.
Figures for last year are expected to rise in the area, one of the fastest-growing niche markets in Irish tourism.
Many of the new visitors come from Britain, where hunting has been banned by the Labour government. While anti-blood sports groups object to this, there is little chance of a ban on fox-hunting here because of its importance to the bloodstock industry. There are 125,000 people employed at both thoroughbred and sport horse level.
There was a hope that this year's show might generate a resurgence in the sale of sport horses, which make up the main bulk of animals at the event.
While there were some sales, foreign buyers were largely absent from the event. Some owners said the spectre of "swamp fever" in Ireland for the first time has frightened them off. The disease has created problems for the industry here.