O’Byrne: Bertie Bowl collapse gave me no joy

FORMER FAI chief executive Bernard O’Byrne had derived no personal satisfaction from the collapse of the Stadium Ireland project.

It was O’Byrne’s original vision of a home stadium for Irish soccer that stimulated debate into the need for a national stadium.

And while his single mindedness to see Eircom Park completed contributed to his downfall within the FAI, he has been vindicated in a certain way by Tuesday’s cabinet decision.

Despite this, he was gutted by the collapse of the proposed Bertie Bowl.

“I don’t take any pleasure from being vindicated on this. It is a sad day for Irish soccer,” O’Byrne said.

“We always had the best interests of Irish soccer at heart, when we drew up plans for Eircom Park and nothing has changed.

“I still want to see what is best for Irish soccer coming through.”

However, he added: “You could see this happening, though.

“With the economic slowdown, people were always going to be against handing over so much money for this project.”

The Government’s decision to shelve public investment plans for the national stadium is “disappointing and sad” for Irish soccer, he said.

O’Byrne was ousted from his position as head of the FAI last year. His fall coincided with a huge push within the FAI to align themselves to the Abbotstown project.

Shortly after O’Bryne left, the FAI enthusiastically embraced the Taoiseach’s plans for Stadium Ireland and their role therein.

“The really sad thing about this is September 2002 was the projected date for the opening of Eircom Park,” O’Byrne reflected.

“When we first unveiled the project, it was around this time that we saw completion. Now, Irish soccer is left with nothing.”

Meanwhile, as GAA officials continue to wonder whether or not Croke Park will be allowed to be used for Euro 2008, the delegation coming to Dublin next week will concentrate on the question of whether deadlines described in the bid proposal can be met.

The Scotland/Ireland bid team submitted deadlines to UEFA headquarters in their proposal earlier this year. While infrastructure will be on the agenda, the most urgent concern for the delegation will be the work being carried out on site.

“We are mainly interested in seeing will deadlines be respected, even if sites are under construction,” said a UEFA spokesperson yesterday.

The delegation takes a week to visit each site and are currently inspecting the Russian bid. Scotland/Ireland’s main Euro 2008 rivals, the Swiss/Austrian bid and the Nordic bid, were the first two sites visited.

Following their visit to Dublin and Glasgow, the delegation will go to Hungary and Bosnia/Croatia, before finishing with the Greek/Turkish bid.

A decision will be reached following the UEFA meeting on December 12-13.