State renews Croker appeal to GAA

THE Government has renewed its appeal to the GAA to make Croke Park available for the European soccer championships.

It has also signalled that more funds can be given to the Gaelic games headquarters.

Sports Minister John O'Donoghue yesterday revealed the Taoiseach has sent a letter to the GAA authorities again asking them to ease their ban on non-Gaelic games to boost Ireland's 2008 bid.

A final decision on the competing bids is due in three weeks, on December 12, and the sports minister said some clarity on the two Irish venues would be helpful at this stage.

Mr O'Donoghue also said he had no provision in his 2003 60m sport capital fund to grant aid for the completion of refurbishments at Croke Park.

He repeatedly stressed he was not linking aid to any relaxation of the rules on soccer and insisted no pre-conditions would be fixed to a GAA grant application.

"But it is open to the GAA to make an application to this department for funding," Mr O'Donoghue said.

"That application would then be sent with a recommendation to the Minister for Finance and I'd be glad to receive any application from the GAA in relation to Croke Park," he added.

Mr O'Donoghue said the matter is entirely in the hands of the GAA and there was no question of trying to exert undue influence.

But he said a successful bid would be a tremendous boost for both the Irish economy and Irish sport bringing 100,000 visitors and netting €50m in revenue.

The sports minister later told the Dáil it was wrong to assume the failure to name two Irish venues would sink the bid.

He said Scotland was providing the other six venues and pointed out that there was considerable confusion and problems surrounding several of the competing bids.

Mr O'Donoghue said the only pre-conditions previously fixed on grant aid to the GAA was that it make certain key games available to a State-funded national stadium. Since that plan was abandoned last June in favour of seeking a privately funded project, a major tranche of GAA funding was cancelled.

"The request to the GAA is not to open up Croke Park for rugby, soccer or cricket but to make the stadium available for four international football matches in the year 2008," Mr O'Donoghue said.

The cancelled Government grant aid is understood to total some €40m.

The sports minister also said it should not be forgotten that, in all, Ireland had a potential of three venues including Lansdowne Road which would cost 100m to refurbish for the 2008 championships and the national stadium.

He said the Government was fully supportive of the bid and had made that clear to inspectors from the European football authority, UEFA, when they visited on September 14 last.

The GAA said last summer the issue of allowing non-Gaelic games could only be decided by a congress of the membership, another of which is not due until next year.