The Government yesterday stepped up its efforts to bring the Football Association of Ireland on board as "a partner" in the proposed national sports campus as more details were unveiled of the £550 million project.
The 500-acre facility at Abbotstown in west Dublin will represent three-quarters of the facilities for an Olympic bid, according to Minister for Tourism, Sports and Recreation, Dr McDaid.
Dr McDaid described the Sports Campus Ireland plan - to which the Exchequer will contribute £350 million - as a "world-class" project, and hinted it could contribute to any possible future bid to host the Olympics in this country.
German architect Mr Stefan Behnisch, who will oversee the design of the Government's sports campus, will bolster its Olympic stature.
Following discussions, attended by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance designed to convince the FAI to drop plans for a competing national stadium at Eircom Park, the sides would only reveal an agreement to meet again in nine days. However, it is understood the FAI officers were given broad outlines of the financial terms they would be offered for the use of the proposed Stadium Ireland. Basically, they would allow the association to retain a higher percentage of match gates, advertising and television revenues than at Lansdowne Road, although the figures involved would only become significant if attendances topped the Balls bridge venue's 33,000 capacity when the benefit involved could potentially run to more than £500,000 a game.