Stadium will not exceed new figure: Delaney

THE redevelopment of Lansdowne Road will not exceed the latest revised figure of €365m, FAI chief John Delaney insisted yesterday.

He stressed that the FAI would raise the extra €33m expected of them under new plans unveiled yesterday.

The original proposal two years ago had an estimated cost of €321m plus VAT. However, a radical redesign has increased that by €44m. The government's input remains at €191m but the FAI's original outlay of €33m has jumped to €68m with the IRFU covering the remainder.

With rates of inflation, labour costs and other variables, the final figure could increase though Delaney was adamant the costs would not spiral.

The stadium has been costed by our experts. The management and design team have been told of the budget. This figure didn't just appear.

"I'm comfortable that we will arrive at €365m, as is Philip Browne of the IRFU and the other board members."

Forward sales of premium seats and corporate boxes are expected to provide as much as €100m towards the cost.

"You need a permanent home. I think when the public sees the stadium, they will see a stadium experience that will fulfil what they require. We have 10,000 premium seats and we've already sold close to a thousand. When we put this out to the market I believe we'll get a very strong response."

IRFU chief executive Philip Browne also indicated that naming rights a potentially huge source of income will be put out to tender yet the possibility of escalating costs remains. To safeguard against that, it is expected that a fixed price contract will be sought with the contractor.

"I don't think any decision has been taken yet as to how the (building) process goes but it's fairly typical for these really large stadiums, like a Wembley, to sign a fixed price contract," said Rod Sheard of architects HOK. "Wembley is £352m. It was when the contract was signed and it will be on opening day."

A planning application will be lodged before Christmas and a full year has been allocated for due process to take its course. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2007 with completion pencilled in for the second quarter of 2009.