Assuming the national stadium will be completed according to proposals and the coming on stream of other facilities, such as an aquatic venue, Ireland could be in a position to make a realistic bid for the Olympic Games in 2016.

Welcoming the Government initiative and the motivation to push it through to completion, the president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), Pat Hickey, yesterday said a bid for the games could become a reality.

"We welcome this new proposal," he said. "It is very solid, very visionary. Our position is that five years ago there was a lunatic proposal for Dublin to make a bid for the Olympics from a base of nothing when other cities had 50 per cent of their infrastructure in place. We were the laughing stock of the world. "But with the stadium up and running we could become serious players. It is a foundation for making a bid in the future and we (the OCI) would welcome it. There would be a possibility of making a bid for the games in 2016 depending on other infrastructures."

According to Hickey, future bids for the Olympic Games are unlikely to be as complex or expensive as they were because of changes made at International Olympic Committee level.

"From Sydney onwards there will be a blueprint for bids," he said. "We could open doors to Olympic expertise. We have the political skills, but you also have to have proper facilities."

The Athletics Association of Ireland also welcomed the initiative which raised hopes of Ireland one day hosting a major athletics meeting.

"We see it as a positive move," said joint-president Nick Davis. "There isn't a permanent track included in the current plans. But it is possible to put in a track at a cost of around £1 million. If we wanted to make a bid for the European or World Championships we could do so. By putting a track in, you'd reduce seating to 65,000 but that is not a problem."

"I think long-term we'd be looking at the possibility of looking at a European or World Championships," he said.

Tennis Ireland also enthusiastically welcomed the proposals in a broad sense and expressed specific interest in the 15,000-seater indoor arena which would be ideal for international tennis events.

"We'd have particular interest in the indoor facilities because promoters could then look on Dublin and Ireland to bring in major ATP and WTA events, this at a time when the Irish crop of players are getting better," said Tennis Ireland chief executive Des Allen.

"The Point has a capacity of 4,000 seated and we know from talking to promoters that there is a very strong interest in Dublin."

"I also see a situation where governing bodies could be sited there, housed in one facility with a shared infrastructure," said Allen.