Former FAI chief executive Bernard O’Byrne has been appointed chief executive of St Patrick’s Athletic.

FAI RANK and file are on a collision course with the Government over the appointment of a new chief executive for the association.

THE FAI will today announce an enhanced sponsorship deal with eircom that will be worth almost €3m extra to the Association over the next five years.

PLANS by the FAI and IRFU to build a 60,000-seat sports stadium will not go ahead without State funding, sources for the sporting organisations have conceded.

LIKE Mick McCarthy, the end of Brendan Menton’s tenure was not a case of if but when.

The events of Saipan ultimately cost Roy Keane his World Cup place and Mick McCarthy his job.

PROPERTY developer Noel Smyth will be insisting the Government provides proper public transport to Abbotstown in his tender to build the national stadium.

The Football Association of Ireland is demanding an urgent meeting with the Taoiseach over the future of a National Stadium.

SPORTS chiefs insisted last night the Government would still have to pay them €120 million worth of grants despite the climbdown on the National Stadium.

THE first crisis for the FAI as a result of the Government’s abandonment of the new stadium project will present itself in two years time when the opening round of fixtures in the qualification tournament for the World Cup of 2006 in Germany will be played.

FORMER FAI chief executive Bernard O’Byrne had derived no personal satisfaction from the collapse of the Stadium Ireland project.

Irish sporting bodies have reacted with disappointment to yesterday’s news that the Taoiseach’s controversial Stadium Ireland project is now effectively on hold.

Fine Gael's spokesman on sport, Jimmy Deenihan, has weighed in tonight on the surprising decision of the Government to pull out of the Abbottstown project.

DELEGATES to the AGM of the FAI in Dublin today will be told that the aborted attempt to build eircom park cost the association €7.2 million.

Fine Gael intends to put pressure on the GAA to open Croke Park to other sports if the party forms the Government after next year’s general election.

FAI officials are seeking an urgent meeting with the Government to discuss the future of the Eircom Park project.

An independent study into the Government’s planned National Stadium project has recommended scaling down the project by 20%, according to reports today.

The FAI' s General Secretary Brendan Menton predicted that Government funding will help the Association compete with its rivals in rugby and Gaelic games, the IRFU and the GAA.

Brendan Menton has been confirmed as the new chief executive of the FAI.

The possibility of resurrecting the FAI’s abandoned Eircom Park is being raised by the Fine Gael deputy leader Jim Mitchell, if his party gets back into power.

The pressure on Bernard O'Byrne to resign is increasing following the collapse of the Eircom Park project.

The FAI have accepted the Government’s offer to become the anchor tenants of the proposed national stadium.

The Eircom Park dream is now over after the FAI announced its decision to accept the Government’s proposals and join in the national stadium project.

The FAI has today accepted the Government proposals to join the national stadium in favour of the eircom Park project.

The FAI and the government are to meet again today over the long-running issue of eircom Park and Stadium Ireland.

The finance committee of the FAI is meeting on Wednesday morning following weekend newspaper reports of the use of an Association credit card by Chief Executive Bernard O'Byrne.

The Football Association of Ireland are to hold a second meeting with the Taoiseach later today to discuss a possible involvement in the planned new national stadium.

Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has set a date for his first substantive meeting with the FAI to discuss the Association’s possible involvement in the national stadium project.

It is expected that the FAI will start its substantive contacts with the Government this week about a possible involvement in the proposed national stadium.

The FAI are to enter talks with the government to establish the basis for use of space in Stadium Ireland.

The 22 National League soccer clubs have advised the Football Association of Ireland to negotiate with the government for the use of the proposed national stadium.

A poll of fans shows that more than half want the national stadium to be the home of Irish soccer.

Representatives of all National League clubs will attend an emergency meeting in Dublin this evening to discuss the Eircom Park project.

The long-running Eircom Park saga has taken a fresh twist this afternoon.

Sports Minister Jim McDaid has again urged the FAI to join in the government's plan to build a national stadium.

A decision by the Football Association of Ireland on the future of Eircom Park has been put off for at least three months.

A meeting of the FAI board of management is continuing in a Dublin hotel with the future of Eircom Park topping the agenda.

Top FAI executives are expected to meet at a Dublin hotel today to consider the future of the controversial £130m Eircom Park.

Fine Gael will this evening attempt to get the Taoiseach to abandon plans for a national stadium.

One of the key figures in the Eircom Park controversy has been granted an early meeting with the Taoiseach.

The Government has said it is ready and willing to talk to the FAI as the projected costs of eircom Park continue to soar.

The price tag of the proposed Eircom Park has reportedly rocketed by £50m to £130m.

The costs of the proposed Eircom Park project have rocketed to an estimated £135m.