Loss of Euro 2008 will cost state €50m

IRELAND will lose €50m in tourist revenue following its failure to guarantee two venues for the 2008 European soccer championships.

The European football authority, UEFA, yesterday chose Austria and Switzerland to jointly host the games which were expected to attract an extra 100,000 soccer mad visitors to this country.

The Irish-Scottish bid finished fourth out of seven submissions, alongside rank outsiders Russia and Bosnia-Croatia.