Emmet Malone/National League: After the relentless excitement of Saturday's televisual extravaganza from Cork, it's back to more mundane stadium stuff for the boys from the FAI this morning when half a dozen of the game's leading officials sit down with their opposite numbers from the IRFU to get their stories straight before this afternoon's meeting with the Minister for Sport, John O'Donoghue.

It's a few months now since O'Donoghue told the two associations to go away, think about it and then come back and let him know which of the many proposals for a new stadium they favoured. Today is supposed to be D-Day, but as of last night there was little to suggest that a decision has been reached.

What does seem fairly clear is that the IRFU favours the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road, but the FAI, while generally enthusiastic about the idea, is worried that the cost of rebuilding in Ballsbridge may prove prohibitive.

The Minister, by all accounts, is genuinely enthusiastic about a stadium of some sort, although what he wants is a plan, location and request for funding that he can bring to Cabinet without fear of humiliation.

Within the FAI the feeling is that seeking much more than €200 million in public funding would effectively doom the project because of the prospect that the Progressive Democrats would veto it.

That level of subsidy points to Abbotstown, with its lower building costs, but the complication is that the PDs made it clear once again over the weekend that they are against the stadium going to Abbotstown, which leaves Lansdowne Road or the Irish Glass Bottle (IGB) site as the main alternatives.

On the face of it the PDs appear to be the major obstacle to the stadium getting the go-ahead and, having done so much better than was generally expected in last year's election, after their steadfast opposition to the original national stadium, it's unlikely either Mary Harney or her party colleagues are losing too much sleep about the fact.

A glance over their previous stand on the issue certainly suggests that if the €500 million plus tag attached to redeveloping Lansdowne Road into a 65,000-seat stadium in reports over the weekend pans out, then that option is all but dead.

FAI sources suggest, however, that the figure relates to a very high spec project.

An idea of how drastically the costs could be slashed is provided by the Millar Partnership's proposal for a new stadium in Belfast. The company, the one behind recent stadium redevelopments at Sunderland, Derby County and Southampton, has recently been in talks with the British government about providing a 32,000- seat ground for football, rugby and Gaelic games, and it has apparently indicated that the facility, which would include a museum, shops and banqueting/conference facilities, could be completed for roughly €60 million or €2,000 per seat.

That sort of costing for such a basic facility - and all three English grounds are basic, highly functional and good value for money, but very basic - take no account of either demolishing the current Lansdowne Road or the additional expense involved in building in such a small and tightly enclosed site. Both factors would push the cost up significantly, as would buying and clearing the IGB site, although building costs there should be lower.

The most obvious way in which money could be saved is by reducing the number of seats. A particularly significant factor in the projected cost of redeveloping in a site like Lansdowne Road is the need, above a certain capacity, to build upwards, and this goes some way towards explaining the staggering €7,700 per seat cost contained in these upper end projections.

Assuming that even a third of the cost is explained by demolition and the nature of the site, then taking out 20,000 seats knocks €100 million off construction costs. Adopt a more a modest approach to the specification required and the bill starts to fall towards the €300 million ballpark budget envisaged.

Inevitably, however, such a solution would leave everyone looking to the GAA once again. With a 45,000-seat stadium as its regular home, the IRFU could probably do with Croke Park's additional capacity once every year or two. The FAI could perhaps justify the trouble and expense of shifting a game once every few years.

At a time when the attempt by the Dublin County Board to ground-share with Shamrock Rovers, and the growing number of other local arrangements at grass roots level have effectively killed any suggestion that there is a principle involved in keeping other sports out of their home, it surely can't be that difficult a deal to secure.

It is tempting to suggest that the smaller stadium, if it were to have a bigger pitch (for rugby requires a total surface of 120 by 70 metres as recommended, for Gaelic games 137 by 82), might even provide the GAA with somewhere to cater for crowds in the 20,000 to 30,000 range, too big for Parnell Park and not big enough for Croke Park.

The Dubs on the southside! Our three main sports organisations working together in a new spirit of co-operation!

A press box at internationals with power sockets! Dreams, dreams, dreams. Truly, that game at Turner's Cross has a lot to answer for.

emalone@irish-times.ie