Private sector interest in the development of a national stadium has been effectively ruled out after the Minister for Sport, Mr O'Donoghue said this evening that most of the 23 expressions of interest had "unattractive conditions" attached.
"I am opposed to any private developer getting land at the taxpayer's expense and making large profits from it. That is a non-runner," the Minister told the Dail.
Instead he is expecting a report, by the end of March, from the Irish Rugby Football Union and the Football Association of Ireland about their joint proposals for a stadium, in what is now likely to be a three-way partnership between the Government and the two organisations.
The Minister was "absolutely convinced of the need for a new stadium" and a final decision would be made once he heard from the IRFU and FAI, who were in an "untenable position" because of capacity restrictions, which would affect the hosting of international matches.
His personal preference for the location of the stadium is still Abbotstown he said, but the other arenas in contention are a re-development of Lansdowne Road, the IRFU's lands at Newlands Cross, in west Dublin and the former Ardagh Glass bottle company at Ringsend, close to Lansdowne Road.