Development of Lansdowne Road: The proposed redevelopment of Lansdowne Road into a 50,000 all-seater stadium at a cost of €300 million will not be completed before the end of 2008, the target date when the project was given the green light in January. John O'Sullivan reports

It's a time-frame that demands an unencumbered passage through planning and construction logistics. The likelihood is that the project could easily run into 2009.

The process has been allotted a four-year schedule but that premise centres on no complications. This means both the IRFU and the FAI will suffer considerable disruption to home fixtures, probably from May, 2006, if the project is on schedule to the completion date, set for the end of 2008.

The IRFU will have to make alternate arrangements for home fixtures in the 2007 and 2008 Six Nations Championships while for the FAI, the construction work is likely to play havoc with the Republic of Ireland's 2008 European Soccer Championship qualifying campaign and could possibly spill over into the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

Of more immediate import for the IRFU is a decision which they must make over the next fortnight with regard to staging of Pool D games in Ireland for the 2007 World Cup. Given Lansdowne Road will ostensibly be a building site during that tournament no games can be played at the venue.

The GAA has made it abundantly clear their position on the Croke Park issue so the likelihood is the IRFU will hand back the three pool matches that would have been staged in Ireland to the French Rugby Union (FFR), the hosts of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

The IRFU's chief executive Philip Browne explained: "France are the host nation and therefore have jurisdiction over the matches in question. We haven't yet reached a level of clarity (about staging matches in Ireland) and are examining all the options available.

"We have to give that clarity about whether it's possible to provide a venue for those matches. We fully respect the GAA's position, which they have made very clear, publicly. For us it is a case of dotting Is and crossing Ts with regard to the options. We will have finality one way or another whether we can host matches here within a couple of weeks. We respect the need to inform the French and we want to clarify and confirm our position."

Given that Croke Park can't be confirmed as a potential venue in that time-frame, it should ensure the IRFU will hand back the matches they would have staged to their French hosts; the upshot would probably be Eddie O'Sullivan's charges playing all their pool games in France.

There were reports in the English media that the RFU would be handed those pool matches but the FFR might prefer to exploit the commerciality of a large band of travelling Irish supporters themselves. It would make a potential clash with Argentina an even more tricky assignment in France (remember Lens) rather than at Lansdowne Road.

The priority for the IRFU, and the FAI, is to fast-track where possible the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road. Interviews have been conducted to appoint a project director and an announcement on the successful applicant is imminent.

The next step in the process is an obligation to follow EU procurement procedures that stipulate that any project that receives over 50 per cent state funding must have notices and tenders put in the EU journals. It is a process of inviting those interested in securing the contract to design and plan the proposed redevelopment. The proposed model shown in January was only a conceptual design.

Once the appropriate consultant has been chosen, definitive design plans and planning applications will be lodged. Between design, lodging planning application and the planning process, it'll take about two years and that's if there are no objections.

Then the contract for the demolition of the old Lansdowne Road and the construction of the new stadium will be lodged in the EU journals, once again open to tender. The IRFU and FAI have spent the last couple of months attending to the minutiae of the whole process.

They are due to set up a development company that will include members of both organisations and have responsibility for the process as well as running the stadium when it is developed.

Both sporting bodies can now only hope that the process enjoys an uninterrupted passage to completion and avoids the sort of delays that could cost both organisations huge sums in terms of lost revenue from gate receipts and other financial opportunities.