Minister: it’s crunch time for stadium

MINISTER for Sport and Tourism John O’Donoghue admitted yesterday that it was time for the Government to ‘make its mind up’ on the proposed national stadium.

However, he would not disclose whether he would be advising his cabinet colleagues to favour Lansdowne Road or Abbotstown as the site for the proposed project.

Reports late last month suggested that the new stadium proposed by the IRFU for Lansdowne Road would encounter difficulties with planning permission due to its increased size and capacity. That led to speculation that Mr O’Donoghue would not be in a position to submit his memorandum on the stadium to the Cabinet before the end of January as expected.