GAA REACTION: The GAA is confident that with the national stadium issue now settled, the association will receive additional Government funding.
Commenting on yesterday's announcement, GAA spokesman Mr Danny Lynch said that negotiations with the Department would take place shortly.
"I was assured by the Minister and his officials that they would enter discussions with us on the subject of further funding for Croke Park.
"We consider it important that we shouldn't be disadvantaged. So any additional funds should be commensurate with the investment already made by the GAA and with the level of funding on offer to the FAI and IRFU. I was very happy at the commitment given."
Top of the GAA's negotiation list will be the €38 million that was withdrawn by the Government when the original Stadium Ireland project for Abbotstown was abandoned. Three years ago the GAA was promised €76 million in return for playing certain matches in the proposed new venue and only half of the money had been paid by the time the plug was pulled on Abbotstown.
Yesterday's announcement that a modified national stadium will be built at Lansdowne Road means that the original arrangement presumably revives, particularly as the Minister was at pains to point out that the new development would be able to accommodate Gaelic games as well as soccer and rugby.
The GAA has always supported the idea of a second stadium in Dublin, especially one with a medium capacity such as the 50,000-seater envisaged by the Lansdowne Road plans.
It's not clear what fixtures would be allocated to the ground by the GAA but in an increasingly crowded fixtures calendar there'll be no shortage of suitable events, particularly with the availability of floodlights, which the GAA has been increasingly using in provincial venues and which is seen as adding greatly to the atmosphere of International Rules tests in Australia.
Another aspect of yesterday's announcement that was positively received by the GAA was the proposed sports campus at the Abbotstown site of the original Stadium Ireland project.
"It's a possibility," said Mr Lynch, "that we would be interested in relocating our headquarters. There's been no decision yet but with growing demands of administration, our existing accommodation with even the new office space in Croke Park isn't adequate."
On the vexed subject of whether yesterday's developments will make the abolition of Rule 42, the provision used to exclude soccer and rugby matches from Croke Park, any more likely at next April's annual congress, he was non-committal.
"I'm not sure what effect the announcement will have. It's entirely a matter for congress."
Although the likelihood of additional funding will defuse hostility towards the Government, there are no real signs that it will swing the vote sufficiently to open the gates of Croke Park.
On one level, it will weaken the case in that the financial argument for reform will be undermined.
A further influence will be the loss of urgency. Until recently, there was talk of Ireland having to play soccer and rugby internationals in Britain. The IRFU chief executive, Mr Philip Browne, admitted yesterday that planning permission will take until 2006 at the earliest whereas his FAI counterpart Mr Fran Rooney said that he was confident FIFA would grant an extended derogation to allow Lansdowne Road continue to be used pending the redevelopment.
Although the reconstruction will take about two seasons to complete - and it is believed that the work will not proceed in tandem with use of the ground - Lansdowne Road can be used for another while and that takes any immediate pressure to open Croke Park off the GAA.
