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]

  1. ^ "RTÉ News: Taoiseach says "Bertie Bowl" dream still alive". RTÉ. 1 February 2002. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "Whatever happened to... The 65,000-seat 'Bertie Bowl' stadium in west Dublin?". thejournal.ie. 29 January 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  4. ^ "The Euro 2008 contenders". bbc.co.uk. 9 December 2002. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ McCarthy, Colm (20 March 2005). "Bertie to pitch good money after bad". independent.ie. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Official Opening Of The Aviva Stadium, Lansdowne Road, Friday, May 14, 2010". irishrugby.ie. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Neville, Conor (19 April 2020). "'They were probably anti-sport' - The rise and fall of the Bertie Bowl". rte.ie. Retrieved 10 December 2020.