Sport

Joint venture moves ahead

Euro 2008 bid : The Minister for Sport Dr Jim McDaid yesterday pledged that the two stadiums required to make Ireland's bid …

Wed Feb 06 2002 - 00:00

Euro 2008 bid: The Minister for Sport Dr Jim McDaid yesterday pledged that the two stadiums required to make Ireland's bid to co-host the 2008 European Championships feasible, would be ready in time.

McDaid insisted that the government here remained committed both to the bid and to the stadium element of the Campus Ireland, albeit in a potentially scaled down form.

"There has been a joint decision within government that the stadium itself remains both desirable and feasible and I think you can take it that as long as Bertie Ahern remains Taoiseach it will remain a priority.

"Perhaps it will end up having something more like a 60,000 or 65,000 capacity but even with that, given the fact that the Scots already have four fine stadiums, I feel that we're in a very strong position to make this bid."

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Following a meeting in Dublin, McDaid and his Scottish counterpart Mike Watson insisted that they were pleased with the way work on the project is moving along.

The two men maintained that the venture remains very much a going concern despite the renewed doubts surrounding the Irish government's plans to build a national stadium and said that they hope that by the time they meet again to be in a position to finalise details of the document that will be forwarded to UEFA at the end of May.

"It's been a very productive meeting," said Watson afterwards, "we've built on the talks that had already taken place and we will now go back to our respective governments with a good deal to report on. I would hope," he added, "that by the time we get together again we would be in a position to dot the 'I's and cross the 'T's in relation to the bid.

"We are tackling the issues involved and I think we have good reason to be satisfied with the progress made so far."

McDaid also pointed out that the flexibility allowed by UEFA at the bid stage means that the Irish government will not have to make a cast-iron commitment to Stadium Ireland by the end of May as there would still be the opportunity to switch to a specified alternative at a later date. Whether the FAI would be interested in such an alternative is, however, another matter.