ASK the public if they would like sport to receive better funding is like asking if they want world peace. Everyone supports the idea in principle but no one is sure how to do it.
All State funding for sport comes through the profits generated by the National Lottery and for many organisations, particularly minority sports, these grants are essential. Many governing bodies have a hand to mouth existence and without public fiends they would long since have given up the ghost. The only other major source of income for most sports is corporate sponsorship either in cash or in kind.
Major sports organisations such as the FAI, GAA, and IRFU, have turnovers in the millions and can retain surpluses for investment or disburse them throughout the sport. But even in these more wealthy sports it can be tough at junior level, with no hot water for showers, and mothers washing the kits.
Money is not a panacea for sports organisations and the question of how it should be spent is a controversial. Britain announced a £300 million sports package earlier this week, including a £100 million national sports centre. But already many British commentators are asking if the money should not have been spent saving the thousands of school playing fields and other public sports areas that have been sold due to lack of government support.
The Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), responsible for co-ordinating Ireland's Olympic team, receives funding from three main sources the Government, sponsorship and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The OCI manages its budgets on a four year cycle to correspond with the Olympics, and received a total of £2.5 million from government in the current cycle. Unlike many other sporting organisations, the funds that the OCI gets from its parent body are not related to the success of Ireland's athletes at the games. Ireland's payment, a tiny percentage of the billions of dollars raised through television rights and global sponsorship, is based purely on the country's population.
OCI spokesman Mr Jack McGouran said the funding from the International Olympic Committee was quite small, as this and corporate sponsorship combined came to £600,000 for the four year period. Aside from cash sponsors such as AIB, Xerox and Guinness, the OCI also benefits from more than £1.5 million in sponsorship in kind.
Dunnes provides team uniforms, Reebok gives sportswear, and Esat Telecom has provided telephone cards for athletes to phone home free of charge. The most lucrative sponsorship in kind has been from Delta Airlines, which has provided £1.25 million in free flights. These have "made a huge difference", according to Mr McGouran, as they have enabled athletes to train in warm climates to prepare for Atlanta.
Boxing, which grabbed Irish attention at the last Olympics, is often dubbed the poor man's game, but the sport has no real financial problems, according to Mr Martin Power, the national treasurer of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association.
Mr Power said that "while there's never enough money ... things have improved" in recent years. The sport now receives "reasonable grants" from both the Department of Education and the OCI. A grant of £150,000 last year paid for the construction of a new training centre at the National Stadium in Dublin while £57,000 was received to run the association.
Further money was received to support individual boxers such as Francis Barrett and Cathal O'Grady and the sport's main sponsor in Ireland Maxol contributed about £19,000. But the National Stadium still needs an overhaul and the association is seeking up to £500,000 to complete this task.
Ms Maria O'Neill, director of the Irish Squash Association tells a different story. "We're really struggling just to keep things going", she says. Its annual grant of £58,500 paid for about 65 per cent of the sport's running costs, while the remaining 35 per cent came from clubs, sponsorship and players entry fees.
Ms O'Neill, like most sports administrators, also faces the dilemma of how to divide money between the elite and the general participants.
She hopes the impact of Michelle Smith's triumphs will trickle down to a wide range of sports but sounds a cautionary note about the clamour for an Olympic sized swimming pool. "It's all very well to talk about a 50 metre pool but the expense of it could rub off on other sports."
Mr Ray Kendal, treasurer of the Irish Amateur Swimming Association, argues that a 50 metre pool would not merely be for elite swimmers. The pool could also be used by canoeists, divers, and other water sports enthusiasts.
The 257 metre pools in Ireland are unsuitable for competition, according to Mr Kendal, as they are too narrow and have no warm up areas.
The importance of funds cannot be over emphasised, says Mr Kendal. "The effect of what money can do is clearly seen by what Michelle Smith has done in the Olympics. The main reason for Michelle's success was that she was able to dedicate herself to swimming full time and have a full time coach."