€1bn bill puts paid to dream of Bertie Bowl
Friday February 01 2002
THE Bertie Bowl sports campus was killed off last night by a highly critical independent report.
Costs have ballooned to an estimated €1.1bn compared with an original €280m for a multi-sport stadium alone, the study says.
The report by the British-based High Point Rendel (HPR) highlighted a lot of gaps in Government planning.
It specified eight separate areas where there had not been enough research on the funding, use of facilities, and potential receipts from the various sports.
With only the aquatic centre for the 2003 Special Olympics already being built, the HPR report sent the Government back to the drawing board.
The implication from the report is that many elements of the campus in the west Dublin suburb of Abbotstown must be droped and the plan brought back to basics.
It spells the end of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's dream of an all-inclusive home for most of the country's sports.
Even Fianna Fail now accepts that the original 80,000-seater stadium will never be built. A 65,000 facility is the best hope.
Tanaiste Mary Harney, who had demanded the HPR study, last night seemed to write an epitaph for the much vaunted project. "It has to be affordable and cost effective," she told reporters. The PDs had been concerned at escalating costs.
It was no longer a priority, she said. Senior PDs made it clear the party was not committed to any aspect of the project at this point.
Sport and Tourism Minister Jim McDaid took an upbeat view and interpreted the HPR study as giving the green light to the project. Other sources within the Government were far less assured. One declared: "We went out into the wilderness of Abbotstown with this project without a road map."
A Government spokesman said: "It is going ahead; it is how it is going ahead."
His implication was that, with the economy slowed from the boom years, there would not be the cash for the campus as it had grown from the original concept.
There were signs of much confusion within the Government as the HPR report emerged. The PDs got ready to publish without the major partners in Government being alerted.
It was officially denied on Wednesday that the campus had been discussed at Cabinet, but it was confirmed last night that the Taoiseach, Tanaiste, Finance Minister, Charlie McCreevy, and the Sport & Tourism Minister had "signed off" on HPR on Wednesday night.
Political analysts in Leinster House speculated that Mary Harney wanted the report published since it would blast the project into near-permanent limbo.
The criticisms in the HPR study call into question Ireland's ability to pursue a joint bid with Scotland for the 2008 European Soccer Championships.
Announced as a stadium for soccer, rugby, Gaelic and athletics, the 500-acre campus soon expanded to include not alone the stadium but a 15,00-seater arena, multi-purpose halls, 29 outdoor pitches, tennis centre with eight indoor and 14 outdoor courts, golf academy with indoor and outdoor practice facilities, velodrome, sports science centre, and 8,000 square metres of office space for the HQs of sports organisations.
The report now strongly suggests that consideration should be given to the scrapping of each and every one of these add-on facilities.
Fine Gael sports spokesman Jimmy Deenihan, a former All-Ireland football winner, said the HPR report indicated it would be totally irresponsible for the Government to go ahead with Campus Ireland.
Labour spokesperson on sport Brian O'Shea said the consultants' findings were no surprise. "We have repeatedly pointed out that the Government has been deliberately understating the likely cost."
- Chris Glennon
