National stadium attracts 23 bidders

TWENTY-THREE separate private developers want to build the National Stadium, including groups from Britain, Germany and France, it emerged yesterday.

But JP McManus’s €63.5 million donation to the project will probably have to be given back to the millionaire financier as the stadium will not be built by the Government.

Sports Minister John O’Donoghue confirmed yesterday that 23 expressions of interest to build the stadium at Abbotstown, Co Dublin were received; 16 from Ireland, four from Britain, one from Northern Ireland, one from Germany and one from France.

The applications will now be examined by a panel to see if it is practical to go ahead with a tendering process for the stadium.

But Minister O’Donoghue indicated that he believed Mr McManus’s £50m (€63.5m) contribution will most likely not be available to any private sector developer working on the project.

“There have been no discussions with Mr McManus as to whether or not this fund would be available in the event of the stadium proceeding through the private sector.

“However, it does have to be stressed that Mr McManus’s offer, to the best of my knowledge, was made on the basis that the State would in fact be constructing the stadium. It is clear now that the state will not be constructing the stadium because of budgetary constraints,” Mr O’Donoghue said.

The review of private sector applications is expected to be finished by the end of November, so the Government can tell European football governing body UEFA whether Ireland will be able to provide two stadia for the joint bid with Scotland for the Euro 2008 football championships.

“It is my intention to be able to say that,” Mr O’Donoghue said.

The stadium plan was either on or it was not, and there would be no fooling around on the matter, Mr O’Donoghue said. But going ahead with the national stadium did not depend on securing the football championships, he said.

The only involvement the State will have is in providing the site at Abbotstown but there was no question of a private developer making a quick killing at the expense of the taxpayer, Mr O’Donoghue said.

The panel assessing the bids includes representatives from the Office of Public Works, Campus Stadium Ireland Development Limited, the National Treasury Management Agency, the Department of Finance and its Public Private Partnership Unit, and the Attorney General’s Office.

If the project goes to tender, any developer will be entitled to put in a bid, even if they have not expressed an interest at this stage. But despite the encouraging response from the private sector, the minister said it may yet be decided that the project is not feasible.