A PLAN for a new €500m national stadium will be scrapped because the PDs and a number of Fianna Fail ministers oppose it.
The massive cost of building such a stadium here compared with other European countries means the junior Coalition partners will never sanction such expenditure.
It was revealed that Portugal could build seven world-class stadiums for the projected cost of a single national venue here. This will entrench the PDs in their stance against such a project.
They have now firmly put their foot down on the joint proposal for a 65,000 seater national stadium from the IRFU and the FAI. This proposal was submitted to the Government in April.
The joint plan envisaged building a new stadium to effectively replace the so-called 80,000 capacity 'Bertie Bowl' abandoned last autumn.
Sports Minister John O'Donoghue still has to bring this formally to Cabinet. But it was made clear last night that there is no prospect of the Government allocating hundreds of millions of euro to it.
The plan could not go ahead without Government backing as the two sports bodies would only contribute €120m to the cost with the taxpayer picking up the remainder of the bill.
It now appears that only a vastly less expensive stadium, ranging from 40,000 to 50,000 seating capacity, is likely to attract full Cabinet backing.
The FAI-IRFU proposals is the third attempt in four years to advance plans for a new stadium.
And it faces the same political opposition as previous efforts.
Tanaiste Mary Harney is firmly opposed to any prospect of Dublin having two "super-stadiums" - an 80,000 capacity Croke Park and a new 65,000 capacity venue.
A number of Government figures have carefully noted recent remarks by the Tanaiste when she reiterated her hope for Croke Park to be opened to other sports and dismissed any notion of two super-stadiums in Dublin.
And last night sources made clear that a number of Fianna Fail ministers also had serious concerns about the costs.
The IRFU/FAI proposal is based on building a stadium in one of four possible locations. Lansdowne Road and Abbotstown are the main contenders.
Mr Ahern has repeatedly favoured the Abbotstown site but the Tanaiste has made it clear she will not support any facility at that location.
The report presented to Mr O'Donoghue by the IRFU/FAI put a price tag of €470m euro on a new stadium at Lansdowne Road and €520m on a new stadium at Abbotstown.
More recent analysis of the figures suggest the Abbotstown site could ultimately cost €75m less than Lansdowne Road.
The two sporting bodies would contribute around €120m towards the cost leaving the Exchequer to pick up the balance ranging from €350m euro to €400m over six years.
A drastically scaled down plan with a maximum capacity of 50,000 seats would leave the Exchequer facing a bill in the region of €150m over five or six years and would be more likely to secure backing.
Meanwhile, new figures show that seven new stadiums, with a total capacity of 289,000 seats, are being built in Portugal for €500m. Last night Mr O'Donoghue said it was evident modern stadiums in Europe are being built at significantly reduced costs compared with here.
