ANALYSIS: After a last-minute wobble, the PDs prevailed while the Abbotstown stadium dream has still been kept alive, reports Mark Brennock.
The Progressive Democrats wouldn't do anything as undignified yesterday as claim that they won. But with the party having opposed the Taoiseach's vision of a stadium and sports campus at Abbotstown for four years, the Lansdowne decision represents a PD victory.
But right up to the start of yesterday morning's Cabinet meeting, there was concern that the decision might be postponed again. This was despite the fact that before Christmas the Taoiseach appeared to throw in the towel on Abbotstown, saying he was not now "hung up" on the location of a stadium.
This led to a growing belief that the IRFU/FAI project for Lansdowne was now a fait accompli, awaiting only a formal Cabinet decision.
But Fianna Fáil discontent over the defeat of the Taoiseach's plan for an Abbotstown stadium as the core of a sports campus had not dissipated. Mr Ahern and those close to him still wanted a renewed commitment to Abbotstown as part of a deal to give Lansdowne the go-ahead.
In the past couple of weeks, Fianna Fáil sources in the Government have been pointing to possible problems with Lansdowne Road. Residents' objections could stall the project for a long period, they maintained. The cost could escalate close to that of Abbotstown in the interim. And the construction of the pitch surface beneath ground level could leave it vulnerable to flooding from the nearby River Dodder.
The GAA was expected to play some games in Lansdowne - fixtures that would only half fill Croke Park and therefore make a loss. What would Lansdowne residents say to soccer, rugby, GAA and rock music fans trooping through their neighbourhood every other week, they asked? A possible planning nightmare was suggested.
Some of those putting forward these objections may have genuinely believed some of them. But ensuring that the Abbotstown sports campus was not pronounced dead was a central concern of the Taoiseach. He wanted to leave open the prospect of future State funding for the campus, adding such things as an indoor arena, outdoor sports grounds, training and medical facilities and other elements to the national aquatic centre currently on the site.
Until yesterday, he still did not know whether the Progressive Democrats would object to even this level of commitment to the sports campus project.
For four years the Progressive Democrats have blocked and derided the Abbotstown sports campus idea as a waste of money - "a Ceausescu era Olympic project", as Michael McDowell put it during the 2002 election campaign.
The PDs turned the location of a sports stadium into a point of high political principle. "Fianna Fáil are seeking a mandate to proceed with the €1 billion project; the Progressive Democrats are seeking a mandate to oppose it," Mr McDowell declared.
After turning it into such a core value, the PDs could never back a stadium at Abbotstown. Mr Ahern's concern was that they might not back any possible development there.
Yesterday morning, however, the PD ministers agreed to include an announcement that Abbotstown lives on as part of the deal.
The commitment to Abbotstown does suggest Exchequer funding could be made available in the future, but only "as resources permit over a period of years". Private sector funding is to be sought for elements of it.
According to Mr O'Donoghue's explanation of the Cabinet decision, "Abbotstown will include medical, research and training support for elite athlete development, administrative facilities and, eventually, with private sector involvement, an indoor sporting arena pitches and training grounds not only for our major sports but also for some of our smaller sports whose needs for modern facilities are also important."
Despite past warnings from its opponents that Abbotstown would cost €1 billion, the decision in the end wasn't based on cost at all. Mr O'Donoghue said that the potential cost to the Exchequer of a stadium at Abbotstown (€207 million) and a new stadium at Lansdowne Road (€198 million) was virtually the same. There was no €1 billion project.
However, he said the key factor in favour of Lansdowne was the lack of infrastructure to serve the Abbotstown site. An extra lane would need to be added to the M50 and a metro or another public transport link would be required. These things weren't there, and the time and money to provide them weren't there either.
Mr Ahern, Mr O'Donoghue, the FAI and the IRFU would have preferred a 65,000-seat stadium, while the Taoiseach and Mr O'Donoghue would have preferred to see it at Abbotstown. Late last year, they decided to settle for what they could get. The commitment to the Abbotstown sports campus is conditional, but it hasn't gone away, you know.