The decision by the Scottish Football Association to join forces with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) in organising a joint bid to host the 2008 European soccer championships is the most compelling argument to date for the construction of a national stadium.
It is extremely rare for a State, as poorly served with sporting infrastructure as the Republic, to find itself linked with hosting one of the world's biggest sporting events. The chance should not be squandered through political squabbles on the stadium issue.
It will now be up to the Government and the FAI to convince their Scottish counterparts and UEFA (the ruling body for European football) that they are serious in their intentions in supporting this bid. That support will ultimately come down to whether the stadium issue is finally addressed.
The convenient political argument that Croke Park should be one of the venues has already been dismissed by the general secretary of the FAI, Mr Brendan Menton, who will be one of the driving forces behind any bid. There is no question about the suitability of the new Croke Park to host a major event but it is hard to believe that the GAA would give over their ground for a period of over six weeks (between preparation and matches) to play host to a sport that is its main opposition.
To bring the State into line with our European neighbours will require substantial investment in a national stadium and other facilities. Stadium Ireland may not be the answer in terms of price, scale, or location but at least it generated a debate about providing a much-needed modern arena for our international soccer and rugby teams.
The impact of hosting part of the European championships would be enormous, drawing up to 100,000 visitors to Dublin and attracting an international spotlight which tourism authorities only dream about. But that tantalising prospect will only come about when politicians accept that a national stadium is an urgent requirement.
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