FAI chief executive Bernard O'Byrne has emphatically denied the association is still split over the way forward for the Eircom Park stadium development project.

O'Byrne was commenting on reports purporting to give details of last Friday's meeting of the FAI board of management. The meeting ended with a unanimous vote of confidence in O'Byrne's plans, but it has subsequently been reported that the chief executive and other officials came under fire from the floor over the project.

"I'm exasperated by the unprofessional behaviour of some of our people," he said yesterday, "who must have gone to journalists after the meeting and put out a version of events which is not consistent with what went on at that meeting.

"It is absolutely inaccurate and unfair to the great football family to suggest that the project will not go ahead. It's unfair to report that we are going in any other direction.

"The association's official stance," he continued, "is that the national council of the FAI, the board of management of the FAI and the management committee of the National League are all unanimous in their support of the project. And resolutions to that effect are on record."

In a world of spin, it is possible to canvass widely divergent views of where the association is at in their efforts to build their new stadium at a cost of £65 million and the effect the drawn-out planning process is having on the sceptics.

At least three members of the board of management were said to have voiced their disillusionment with the tenor of last Friday's meeting. The manner of the public relations campaign designed to whip up support for the project was also queried.

At a time when there are genuine misgivings about the Eircom Park development among a section of the soccer fraternity, O'Byrne has never been less than optimistic about the viability of the project. And he seized the opportunity of the formal announcement of Don Given's appointment as manager of the under-21 team to give us more of the same.

There were some who left last Friday's meeting under the impression that he had been instructed to re-open negotiations with the Government about re-assessing the Eircom development in the light of the new National Stadium to be built by 2005.

O'Byrne confirmed he has been instructed to contact the Taoiseach's office to arrange a meeting, but not specifically about their new stadium.

"The last communication we had from the Taoiseach's office was in December and at that time we indicated that we would be seeking to meet him at some point in the future," O'Byrne said. "The purpose of that meeting would be to have a broad discussion on matters, like our pre-Budget submission, the question of the extra financial burden being placed on the association by the postponement of games during the Balkans crisis, and the matter of Government investment - or rather non-investment - in National League clubs.

"The agenda would be wide ranging and I'm sure that Eircom Park will be discussed as, indeed, will the National Stadium. We still believe there is no reason why the two stadiums cannot be built."

O'Byrne, who with FAI president Pat Quigley met representatives of all 22 National League clubs yesterday to clarify any points at issue, was equally scathing of reports that he had been instructed to cap the association's investment in the project.

"In this particular instance, capping our investment means staying within the budget allocated for the development of Eircom Park," he said. "And at this point, we've spent less than 50 per cent of that budget."

He also said the association did not intend to raise extra funding by increasing admission charges for the Republic of Ireland's home games.