Phillip Browne, IRFU chief executive, will meet the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism John O'Donoghue on Friday morning in the latest bid to inject some momentum into the upgrading or redevelopment of a national stadium at Lansdowne Road.
More specifically, the IRFU have revised their initial plans from a €490million 65,000-seater redeveloped stadium at Lansdowne to a more modest 45,000-seater stadium costing in the region of €250m.
The IRFU along with the FAI, soccer's governing body, hope this scaled-down proposal will satisfy the government, who promised a national stadium some five years ago.
Approval to begin work on a national stadium has reached crisis point for both governing bodies given that Ireland are due to host at least two games in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Finals and the national soccer team need somewhere to play their home qualifying games for the 2006 World Cup.