The Kerrygold Dublin Horse Show, which cost over £1 million to stage, would not have made a profit had there not been heavy sponsorship of the event, the chief executive of the RDS, Mr Shane Cleary, said at the weekend.
Mr Cleary expressed satisfaction with the first show of the millennium which had attracted very good crowds, especially on Nations' Cup Day.
"All 12,000 seats in the stands were pre-booked for the event which shows the level of support out there for the competition," he said.
He said that preliminary figures indicated that attendances were slightly up on last year, and the disruption to bus services on the opening day had not caused the expected drop in figures.
He said that the reaction to the new slicker format of show jumping, which meant the competitions were shorter, with fewer horses, was good.
"It was the cherry on the cream for us that Ireland had such a wonderful win in the Nations' Cup," he said.
Mr Cleary said that the society had made £1 million profit this year on a turnover of £5 million. "This was the highest profit to date," he said.
The society had spent £7 million on refurbishing the buildings and the grounds at the RDS and was now in good shape financially. The show was the best-known event of the year at the RDS but it was not the main breadwinner for the society. "Our main revenue comes from the exhibitions and concerts we run here. Our exhibition halls are the largest covered area available in the country," he continued.
Mr Cleary said he was conscious that with a growing affluence in Ireland the RDS could face threats from competitors in the exhibition market. "We are looking at possible contenders for the exhibitions so we just have to ensure that our performance here is better than whatever competition emerges," he added.