Comments made in this space last week have flushed out some very interesting statistics in regard to the value of sport to the financial health of the Celtic Tiger and particularly to Dublin. The capital has become a focus for visitors from abroad, a large percentage of whom are attracted here by sporting events.

The Dublin Chamber of Commerce is to be congratulated on having conducted a scientific study of three recent events which reveal the importance of sport and entertainment to the economic life of the capital and to many other areas around the country.

The events which were put under the microscope by the Chamber of Commerce were the Ireland-Scotland rugby international last February, the Elton John-Billy Joel concert at Croke Park and the Tall Ships extravaganza.

Between them, these events generated more than £10 million in revenue for the Dublin economy.

In the meantime, increased attendances at sports events such as the football and hurling championships have brought extra revenue to towns and cities all around the country. Thurles, in particular, has reaped a rich harvest from hurling, with two Munster final matches between Clare and Waterford and the bonus of an All-Ireland semi-final replay between Clare and Offaly last weekend.

Last weekend's All-Ireland football semi-final between Kerry and Kildare brought a huge crowd of more than 65,000 customers to Croke Park with the resultant spin-off for traders in many aspects of the economy.

Already, Dublin hotels, restaurants, bars and guest houses are making preparations for a capacity attendance of more than 65,000 at Croke Park on All-Ireland final day when Kildare meet Galway. The hurling final between Kilkenny and Offaly earlier in the month which will also be a sell-out, and will generate similar revenue for Dublin and, by extension, the national economy.

This does not even take into account the revenue already brought to this country by the Tour de France ord Failte because of - and the publicity which the extensive television coverage generated will bring in even more. Needless to say the Government coffers also rake in considerable amounts of cash on the back of all of this, by way of VAT on goods bought, on revenue from sales of items such as drink and petrol and so on. Public transport is also a big beneficiary. The list is endless. The various sporting bodies, even those which are so often criticised for being greedy, all contribute in many ways to the health of the nation as a whole. Health in not only reflected in financial terms but also in terms of the promotion of the ethic of mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body).

A street concert called "The Final Fling" has been organised in College Green on the eve of the All-Ireland football final. This is a free, open-air event, sponsored by Bank of Ireland, the sponsors of the football championship, and is expected to attract an attendance of about 20,000. The bank and the Dublin Chamber of Commerce are acutely aware of the value of sporting events to their interests and are supporting these efforts. It can be said that they will benefit from their support, but that does not make it any the less welcome.

The contribution this event will make to the city should not be lost on those who continue to carp and whine in letters to this newspaper about the donation to the GAA for their Croke Park project.

That donation and others to sport and the arts was what the National Lottery was established to support. To describe National Lottery funds as `tax-payers' money' is completely wrong. People who buy Lottery tickets are doing so on a totally voluntary basis.

But, if we don't want to play the Lottery we don't have to, and if we do, we must accept that we are contributing to sport and the arts and not to the Department of Health or Education or any other Government agency. Those of us who were privileged to be at the official opening of the superb GAA museum in Croke Park earlier this week were given an insight into what sport has done for the country as a whole. When the president of the GAA, Joe McDonagh described the new development as "giving a future to our past" he coined a powerful phrase to sporting posterity. The presence at the opening of representatives from many different sports, all of whom have made their enormous contributions to Irish life for decades and who continue to do so in a positive and, indeed, enthusiastic way, was impressive.

The recent achievements of Sonia O'Sullivan illustrate quite forcefully how our respect for ourselves can be inspired by such performances. It is, therefore, appropriate that we recognise, without any reservation, the contribution to sport to the social and economic life of our country and how sport must always be a part of how we approach the future.

We are, effectively, giving a future to our future.