THE question people are asking today is why the Government squandered so much time and money dragging out the Bertie Bowl project, especially following yesterday’s decision to press ahead with a €300 million stadium at a revamped Lansdowne Road venture, as opposed to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s preferred option for a €1 billion extravaganza at Abbottstown.

BERTIE AHERN will attempt to gloss over the embarrassing scrapping of his pet project stadium as the Cabinet back the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road.

AS the Government inches towards a crucial decision on the location of a much scaled-down national >stadium, all the signs are that Abbotstown is the front-runner over revamped IRFU rugby grounds at Lansdowne Road.

PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS one — Fianna Fáil nil.

EXPECT next week’s political agenda to be dominated by a Punch and Judy show garnished by a generous helping of what we might call “hip replacement syndrome”.