Stadium plan boosts Euro soccer bid
The joint Irish-Scottish bid for the 2008 European soccer championships received a boost tonight when the new coalition government agreed to build a new national stadium.
Bertie Ahern’s plans for a giant sports campus project on the outskirts of Dublin appeared doomed before last month’s general election as the Progressive Democrats firmly opposed it.
But after Mr Ahern’s Fianna Fail party and the PDs made electoral gains and agreed to re-enter Government together, it was announced tonight that a ‘‘world-class national stadium’’ would be built.
The new stadium, which could be a scaled-down version of An Taoiseach's planned ‘‘Bertie Bowl’’ complex, is seen as a vital part of the joint bid, which would see Ireland provide two stadiums and Scotland six.
The Irish Rugby Football Union had refused to open Lansdowne Road for the tournament unless the new stadium was built.
Another major stadium, the 80,000-seater Croke Park in north Dublin, is currently ruled out because the GAA only permits Gaelic games to be played at the ground.
The Programme for Government, finalised by Mr Ahern and Ms Harney tonight, said: ‘‘We will start work on the construction of a world-class national stadium.
‘‘We will build facilities... which will serve the needs of the sporting bodies both nationally and locally.
‘‘The Minister for Sport, in conjunction with Campus and Stadium Ireland Development, the national sporting bodies and the Office of Public Works will bring forward the plans and implementation proposals of these policies in the most cost-effective way as soon as possible.’’
Scotland can provide Hampden, Ibrox, Celtic Park and Murrayfield - home of Scottish rugby.
Two more venues will be selected from a new ground in Aberdeen, a joint stadium in Dundee and the redevelopment of Easter Road, in Edinburgh.
Ireland and Scotland officially lodged their bid last week with football’s European ruling body UEFA. A final decision on who will host the tournament is due to be made by UEFA in December.
Although the new stadium is expected to be smaller than that originally planned a spokeswoman for
Sports Minister Jim McDaid said: ‘‘The Minister will be aware of UEFA’s capacity requirements for games in the tournament.’’
The spokeswoman added that consultations and discussions on the stadium would resume in Dublin when the new Government appointed its next Sports Minister.
