The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, is coming under increasing pressure from his own backbenchers to abandon his plan to build a National Stadium at Abbottstown, and to develop a scaled-down version in the city centre instead.
Mr Ahern is also facing mounting opposition to the €400 million project from his Government partner, the Progressive Democrats.
Fianna Fáil and PD sources told The Irish Times last night that the building of a national stadium in Abbottstown was not realistic given the current climate of cutbacks.
It is understood a growing number of backbenchers and Cabinet members are concerned at the huge expenditure the project would involve, including the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy.
The PDs are strongly opposed to the Abbottstown plan, and the party is sticking to its preferred option of developing Lansdowne Road and opening up Croke Park to more sporting events. The PD parliamentary party will meet before a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday at which a decision on the National Stadium is expected. The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, will also discuss the issue with the Taoiseach.
A five-man committee set up by the Government in July to assess the plan is due to finish its report today and to hand it to the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, who will bring the report to cabinet. He is still fully behind building a stadium in Abbottstown, even if it is a 65,000-seater instead of the 80,000-seater envisaged. The committee has assessed several potential stadium sites, including Abbottstown, the Phoenix Park, Lansdowne Road and the former glass bottle factory in Ringsend.
An RTÉ Prime Time poll of 36 Fianna Fáil TDs broadcast last night shows that only 15 are in favour of building an 80,000-seater stadium. Another 11 were in favour of a stadium with between 50,000 and 65,000 seats, while 10 are against building at present.
The Cabinet must decide on the issue next week in advance of the visit on September 16th of UEFA inspectors to assess our bid to co-host the 2008 European Soccer Championships with Scotland.