Tables turned in funding rivalry

Even though the element of surprise should have long disappeared, there are still times when the sheer scale of the economic and social changes that have taken place in this island over the past decade stops you in your tracks. This has been one of those weeks. The protracted "Stadium Ireland v Eircom Park" debate may have opened up some deep sporting divisions in the Republic but it has also cast a harsh light on the huge gulf that has been allowed to open up between the level and quality of sporting provisions on either side of the Border.

Perhaps the way that figures like the projected £231 million of the Abbotstown development and the corresponding £65 million bill faced by the FAI are bandied about in such a carefree manner is the true sign of a cash rich economy. But up here even the very notion of such an investment in infrastructure is the stuff of fanciful dreams and the product of an overactive imagination. You saw this over the past few days when officials from the Northern Ireland Sports Council and the other administrative sporting bodies were wheeled out to face the media.

When confronted with the news that two separate groupings were actually arguing about which one of them was going to provide a new state-of-the-art sports facility, they could hardly suppress either their amazement or their jealousy. This great stadium stand-off has a significance beyond the battle of wills and wallets between Bertie Ahern and the FAI. It represents final, incontrovertible proof that there are now two sporting and social value systems on this island and that it is the Northern version which is lagging embarrassingly behind. The public wrangling in the Republic over opposing schemes, each of which will cost many millions of pounds, is the final act in the inversion of the old order.

Of course, it wasn't always like this. There was a time when it was the North which dominated both in terms of its sporting achievement and its behind-the-scenes provision for its sportsmen and women. In terms of success Northern Ireland led the way in sports as diverse as football, boxing and snooker. And this could at least partly be ascribed to a funding system and investment programme which helped sport here to hit the ground running while its Southern counterpart was rooted in the blocks.

Direct rule from London meant that British government initiatives in areas like the building of leisure centres and the establishment of grants and incentives for the top tier of performers were simply replicated here. Today the most visible representation of that is in the plethora of those leisure centres dotted throughout the North. In Belfast alone there are 14 of these, most with swimming pools and indoor and outdoor facilities, all controlled by the local council and available to the public at generously subsidised rates. And this is in a city with less than half the population of Dublin.

But this embarrassment of riches produced a smugness and a self-satisfied attitude that has ultimately been the North's undoing. The obvious temptation was to measure levels of spending and commitment against its nearest neighbour and fix that as a benchmark. But given that the Southern government had slightly more pressing economic concerns on its mind there was only going to be one winner. That economic landscape has now, of course, changed dramatically and if events of the past week have had no other effect here they should at least have rammed home the terrible realisation that opportunities have been squandered.

During the years of subvention from the British government it is likely that the financial support would have been available for a scheme along the lines of the proposed national stadium or, even on a much smaller scale, the proposed Eircom Park. If anything, the need for such an initiative was more acute here as all that was available in terms of an acceptable international venue was Windsor Park with all its negative and divisive associations. But if the money was potentially readily available, the necessary foresight, drive and ambition most assuredly were not.

Much of that is now consigned to the past. If one accepts that we have now entered a new national order, the challenge facing us is how the relationship between North and South develops. There have been suggestions here that Bertie Ahern did have discussions with both David Trimble and Seamus Mallon about his national stadium proposals but this island-wide element to the plans has so far been well down the agenda.

If that continues to be the case it would be a pity. In the absence of any similar moves here, Stadium Ireland, if it does in fact see the light of day, could have some very positive spin-offs on this side of the Border. Rugby would be an obvious beneficiary of a new ground to replace the crumbling embarrassment that is Lansdowne Road. That sport's all-Ireland dimension may produce some awkward moments but its virtues at times like this are there for all to see.

Beyond the ground itself, there are indications that the new development will include both a 50-metre swimming pool and facilities for athletics training. Some element of cross-Border co-operation in this would be tremendously beneficial. Instead of uprooting to training camps either in Britain or somewhere else in Europe, Northern swimmers and athletes would be able to take advantage of top-class modern facilities which are just two hours drive away.

A new home for the FAI also has obvious attractions for a Northern audience. It has long been established that the Republic draws on a deep well of support from the Nationalist community here and with the recent spats surrounding talented young Northern-born players declaring for the Republic it is clear that is a trend which will continue rather than recede. In that context the prospect of a spanking new international football venue can only be music to Northern ears.

With the Republic now racing so far ahead it seems obvious that from a Northern point of view "co-operation" must now be the new buzzword. The alternative is the prospect of falling even further behind in the treatment of both our competitors and those who are interested in watching international sport. But if co-operation like this is to work, the nature of some of the old relationships will have to be reversed.