Disappointment as rugby union considers its options

The Irish Rugby Football Union's (IRFU) chief executive, Mr Philip Browne, last night expressed the union's acute disappointment over the Government announcement that there would be no Exchequer spending for the proposed National Stadium.

"We're pretty disappointed with it to put it mildly," he said. "We had been led to believe the National Stadium was definitely going to go ahead."

The options for the IRFU without the Abbotstown project are to build a ground on their 90-acre site in Newlands Cross or to redevelop Lansdowne Road. "If it's not going to go ahead then clearly we're going to to have to consider our options, which is effectively back to where we originally started from a few years ago, namely Newlands Cross or Lansdowne Road," said Mr Browne.

"The reality is that if we have to fund the building of a new stadium, then it's going to impact on our ability to run the game, particularly the professional end of the game, because most of our revenue would have to be diverted into funding a new stadium," Mr Browne said.

"What we have to do now is consider all the options which are available to us," he added.

"We will have to talk to the Government to see what, if anything, they can do. The fact of the matter is that Lansdowne Road, in its current guise, has a limited lifespan."

However, the IRFU have not given up hope completely that the National Stadium might yet be built.