Dublin have opened up the possibility of the county playing some of its matches at the proposed Stadium Ireland development. In an address to be delivered to next week's county convention, chief executive John Costello alludes to the lack of debate concerning what use the GAA might make of the Government project.
"As a matter of policy, the GAA is fully supportive of the Government's efforts," he says. "Of course, it is unlikely that the GAA nationally would have any desire to stage our major occasions, such as the All-Ireland finals, in a stadium other than Croke Park.
"But I wonder are there other games of Gaelic football or hurling that could be accommodated in the national stadium and which would suit our own purposes?"
Referring to the work that has gone into the county ground at Parnell Park, he acknowledged the limitations of the capacity (10,000) and the impossibility of developing the venue any further.
"As we know there are occasions when our major fixtures would attract much greater numbers," he continues, "when we have been forced to make games all-ticket.
"This deprives our own supporters and our visiting supporters of the opportunity of seeing their teams in action in big games. As well, our income potential from these games decreases because of the limited capacity.
"It would be prudent to examine the possibility of staging these games in the new National Stadium. I have no doubt that we could come to a mutually beneficial arrangement with the Government for the use of the stadium."
The idea will be seen as a welcome development by the Government. Yesterday the Taoiseach, in the course of his first Internet interview, reaffirmed his backing for the Stadium Ireland project.
Talking to setanta.com, Ahern said that the Government proposal is similar to current stadium projects throughout the world. "What we are doing is not huge by world standards," he said. I have recently returned from Korea, where they are building 10 stadiums similar to our proposal. Stadium Ireland Campus is something that we desperately need."
Referring to his experience as Lord Mayor in failing to convince the Croke Park authorities to agree to host a tournament involving Celtic, Manchester United and Liverpool, he declared that the GAA would never accept soccer in their grounds. "It wasn't possible then, and it is no more possible today."
The Taoiseach did accept that Croke Park might "conceivably be used by the IRFU" in the long-term future, but it would never be used by the FAI. The idea is taboo, it's not realistic, it's not going to happen and can be forgotten about for at least the next 100 years."
He also referred to the views of local residents (his own constituents) who have the benefit of strict planning permission orders, regulating the number of non-GAA events which may be staged at Croke Park.
