Ahern hoping investors will rescue Stadium Ireland

The Taoiseach has said he hopes the business community will invest in his Stadium Ireland project after the Government refused to allow taxpayers money to be used in the scheme. At a cabinet meeting yesterday, ministers ruled out the possibility of Exchequer funding for the stadium because of the economic slowdown.

However, Bertie Ahern said he hopes the project can still go ahead. "Whether there’ll be expressions of interest or not, we’ll just have to wait and see," he said.