Stadium Ireland

Stadium Ireland (commonly referred as the "Bertie Bowl") was the name of a proposed government built sports stadium in

Abbotstown, Dublin, Ireland.^[1] Its nickname was due to its close association with the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.^[2] The stadium would have served as Ireland's national stadium and would have hosted home games for both the national football team and national rugby union team.^[3]

The stadium was planned to hold 75,000, and was central to Ireland's joint (and ultimately unsuccessful) bid with the Scottish Football Association to host UEFA Euro 2008.^[4]^[5] The Stadium Ireland project was abandoned by September 2002 because of spiraling costs and waning support.^[5]^[6] Government backing was instead given to the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road into the Aviva Stadium, which officially opened in May 2010.^[7]

Ahern remarked in April 2020 that the "Bertie Bowl" could still be built if someone had the "political guts".^[8]^[9]

References

^ "RTÉ News: Taoiseach says "Bertie Bowl" dream still alive". RTÉ. 1 February 2002. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
^ McKittrick, David (12 September 2002). "Irish cabinet pulls plug on 'Bertie Bowl'". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 12 November 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
^ "Whatever happened to... The 65,000-seat 'Bertie Bowl' stadium in west Dublin?". thejournal.ie. 29 January 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
^ "The Euro 2008 contenders". bbc.co.uk. 9 December 2002. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
^ ^a ^b McDonald, Henry; Khan, Stephen (15 September 2002). "Bertie Bowl fiasco will hit bid for Euro 2008". The Observer. London. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
^ McCarthy, Colm (20 March 2005). "Bertie to pitch good money after bad". independent.ie. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^ "Official Opening Of The Aviva Stadium, Lansdowne Road, Friday, May 14, 2010". irishrugby.ie. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
^ Pownall, Sylvia (19 April 2020). "Bertie Ahern says Bertie Bowl could still be built if someone has the 'political guts'". irishmirror.ie. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
^ Neville, Conor (19 April 2020). "'They were probably anti-sport' - The rise and fall of the Bertie Bowl". rte.ie. Retrieved 10 December 2020.

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