There is exactly one year to go until Galway plays host to one of the biggest sporting events that this country will ever see, the Volvo Ocean Race, which for the first time in its 35 year history will have a stopover in Ireland next year. It should be a proud time for Galway, with everyone now pulling together to make sure the event puts Galway on the map and that Galway is represented in the best light on an international stage.

The Volvo Ocean Race integrates Galway into a global network of ten ports from Alicante to Singapore and St Petersburg in Russia. Up to 140,000 visitors are expected for the event, which will be watched by an audience of up to 1.8 billion people worldwide. It will be the biggest sporting event that Ireland has seen since the Ryder Cup. There will be in port racing and a two-week festival surrounding the event, which will be accommodated in a three-acre village at Galway Harbour. It is estimated that the event will generate an estimated €43 million for the local economy.

The stopover will be a unique tourism marketing platform and will focus a vision for the development of Galway harbour as an integral part of a maritime city.

The Galway launch of the event last week was a testament to its organisers, with hundreds of people turning out for the media lunch, the helicopter rides and the launch party in Galway Bay Hotel, which included an amazing virtual reality presentation on what the Docks will look like this time next year when the village is up and running and the spectacular Volvo fleet has anchored in port.

For their part, Galway hotels have signed up to a price charter to ensure that visitors to the city receive a fair rate during their stay, while there has been a visible coming together of various bodies to ensure the stopover not only becomes a reality but that Galway can attract the race back in 2012.

However, already there have been detractors, with rumblings about road closures, the covering of road safety signs and getting the city ready in time for the event.

Dare I say it, but the detractors could take their cue from the Galway stopover organisers' group title: 'Let's do it Galway'. The Galway stopover is an amazing coup for Galway and, if the various bodies continue to work as well together, any logistical issues will be worked out in the course of the next year. Let's get on with it.

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