The joint Scottish-Irish bid for the 2008 European soccer championships
received a boost tonight when the incoming Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrat Government agreed to build a new national stadium.
The Taoiseach Mr Ahern's plans for a giant sports campus project at Abbotstown on the outskirts of Dublin appeared doomed before the General Election as the PDs firmly opposed it.
But it was announced in their joint Programme for Government that a "world-class national stadium" would be built.
The new stadium, which could be a scaled-down version of Mr Ahern'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.
The 80,000-seater Croke Park is currently ruled out because the GAA only permit Gaelic games to be played at the ground.
Today’s statement said that "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 and Ireland 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 the Minister for Sport Dr Jim McDaid said: "The Minister will be aware of UEFA's capacity requirements for games in the tournament."
She added that consultations and discussions on the stadium would resume in Dublin when the next sports minister was appointed.