Lansdowne green light as Bertie Bowled out

BERTIE AHERN and Fianna Fáil were last night forced to defend the Bertie Bowl debacle after the Progressive Democrats blew the final whistle on the Taoiseach’s pet project.

Amid accusations that up to E200 million and five years had been squandered on the abandoned proposal at Abbotstown, the Cabinet pledged E190 million to the E300 million redevelopment of Lansdowne Road by the IRFU and FAI.

The saga developed further as the GAA said it now expects similar financial backing for its refurbishment work at Croke Park, after controversially losing out on E40 million promised to it for originally supporting the Bertie Bowl.