SAILING:DUBLIN IS a city of sails this weekend as the combined power of Dún Laoghaire's waterfront yacht clubs stage the biggest Irish event of the year.

The capital boasts two world-class sports arenas in Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium, but for this weekend at least these are not the biggest sports arenas in Dublin. That distinction goes to Dublin Bay, which will play host to over 3,000 sailors for a weekend of over 200 races at the Volvo Dún Laoghaire Regatta.

For Irish sailing, it demonstrates in unambiguous terms the potential of what can come in on the tide, especially when all four of the biggest clubs, – the Royal St George, the National, the Royal Irish and the Dún Laoghaire Motor YC – pull together.

But as impressive a sight as today’s on-the-water activity may be, storm clouds are on the horizon for Dún Laoghaire Harbour. The harbour company has said it needs to spend €5 million a year on the facility, and that to date almost 70 per cent of its income has come from one client, Stena Line, which operates the ferry to Holyhead.

A new two-year contract with Stena will see the service reduced to just one sailing per day, with a drop in harbour company revenue from €7.2 million to an average of €1.8 million a year. The conclusion may be that the Victorian harbour is no longer viable as a stand-alone operation.

The harbour’s supporters argue that maintaining its infrastructure is not a job for Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company alone – this is a county, if not a country resource.

The harbour company’s response to its problems has been to propose a €250 million development project which includes a “world-class” diaspora centre, berthing for large cruisers, marine service companies, food and beverage outlets and 300 new homes.

However, questions are already being raised about the feasibility of a plan that greatly expands facilities for sailing and at the same time provides berthing for large “next generation” cruise liners in the confines of the harbour.

Regeneration plans such as this have been mooted before. What is different this time is the threat caused by any loss of the continuous, 200-year ferry service link with Holyhead.

A combined clubs’ response to the plan has accurately detailed the immense value of sporting events that sailing brings to Dún Laoghaire, but Irish sailing alone cannot sustain the harbour.

World-class events are already being planned for Dún Laoghaire next year. The ISAF Youth World Championships will be staged at the Royal St George Yacht Club. The Tall Ships are coming to the bay too.

Government agencies are engaging with boating organisations to make more events like this happen so other ports can share in the spoils of the sea, just like Waterford last week, and Dún Laoghaire this weekend.

Now that we know the value of what can come in on the waves, the marine sector in general, and Dún Laoghaire harbour in particular, needs the tourism recognition it deserves.

But there seems little point in hatching a grandiose regeneration plan for one harbour when facilities right around the coast face such an uncertain future. The redevelopment of the stalled Greystones harbour in Wicklow is one example.

Ireland, an island nation, has yet to develop a marine policy – a requirement under EU law. That must be addressed as a matter of priority.

In the long history of Dún Laoghaire harbour, only a few generations have had a chance to develop it. Today, with the same spirit that has produced this weekend’s regatta, there is a chance to shape the harbour for the next 200 years. At the very least, the clubs could form a think-tank with a view to unlocking the potential that lies in the harbour. Other ports could be invited to take part too. A high-level forum such as this could develop a strategy for promoting water-based events that attract high-spend tourism.

The Fáilte Ireland report into the financial success of Galway’s staging of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2009 revealed nearly €60 million was generated, a figure that suggests at least half that figure could be harvested from the sea annually – and hundreds of full-time jobs created – if ports around the coast followed the lead provided by the race stopover in Galway.

In Dún Laoghaire, one example of this might be the staging of a national maritime festival, an ideal opportunity and a first for this island nation. It would be an ideal chance to put to good use the new 8,500sq m space presented by the Carlisle Pier, the country’s only exhibition space virtually surrounded by sea.

It may not be as far-fetched as it sounds. In July last year, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council spent over €1 million on a festival of world cultures. This year it has been scrapped. The budget figure overran by €400,000. Surely future festivals could encompass the town’s main asset and neglected maritime culture too?

Thousands want to come here to sail, if we just develop the facilities. And all that requires is the sort of vision behind this weekend’s regatta.