Cost of upgrading stadia for 2023 ‘not prohibitive’

The cost of upgrading Irish stadia to the standard required to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup would not be prohibitive, Sports Minister Leo Varadkar insisted last night.

Minister Varadkar also confirmed the government would contribute to the costs of improving the stadia should Ireland get the nod to host the tournament from the International Rugby Board (IRB). He said it would be a joint north-south initiative and that 14 grounds would be required, the majority of them belonging to the GAA which agreed in principle last March to the idea of using its facilities for any bid made by the IRFU. The country’s accommodation and transport capacities were both backed to cater for the expected influx of 377,000 or so extra visitors and Varadkar was similarly bullish about the sporting sector’s bricks and mortar.

“It is difficult to calculate [the final cost] because some works are planned anyway,” he said at the IRB’s first annual conference and exhibition in Dublin.