National Stadium to incorporate an aquatic and leisure centre, Ahern says

The national sports facility planned by the Government will include an aquatic and leisure centre, the Taoiseach has said.

Speaking at a press briefing in Government Buildings yesterday, Mr Ahern said the aquatic and leisure centre would be ready in time for the Special Olympics in 2003.

The centre is a new element of the £281 million sports campus announced earlier this year, bringing the cost of the facilities to a figure expected to be more than £300 million. Land for the project, a 500-acre site at Abbottstown in north Co Dublin, is already in State ownership.

The aquatic centre will incorporate a 50-metre pool, and companies and consortia which have the ability to design, build and operate such a centre have already been asked by the Government to express an interest in tendering for the project.

The Taoiseach said he was happy that the response from the companies and consortia was "extremely positive".

The Government has established a development company, Campus and Stadium Ireland Development Ltd (CSID), under the chairmanship of the former Secretary of the Department of the Taoiseach, Mr Paddy Teahon, to oversee the project.

The CSID has in turn appointed an executive services team to advise on property, planning, finance, marketing, environmental services and communications. The services team is headed by Ms Laura Magahy, former director of Temple Bar Properties, through her new venture, Magahy and Co.

Advertisements announcing a competition for an overall architectural and environmental framework plan are to be placed in newspapers over the next few days, the Taoiseach said.

The winning framework will accommodate a sports campus, a parkland amenity for the public, a major science and educational project, and complementary commercial and leisure projects. The competition is to be managed by the Royal Association of Architects in Ireland (RAIA) in association with CSID.

Consultation with the local community council was under way and concerns about heritage elements of the site and access to the stadium were being addressed, said Mr Ahern. He added that the Dublin Transportation Office had been consulted on a full-time station on the proposed Dublin metro to serve the stadium.

The campus is to be developed as a public-private partnership with individual elements being put out to tender between now and the end of the year. While this includes the aquatic centre, the Government expects to make a contribution towards the cost of providing this element.

Other tenders will include the stadium, the indoor arena, the indoor and outdoor training halls and pitches, the sports-science and medical centre, headquarters facilities for sports organisations, and an information centre. Proposals will also be sought for the development of commercial facilities on the site.

The membership of the CSID board is: Mr Bill Attley, former general secretary of SIPTU; Ms Mary Davis, of the Special Olympics committee; Mr Sean Donnelly, a civil engineer; Ms Lucy Gaffney, formerly marketing director of Esat; Mr Tom Kiernan, former international rugby player and former president of the IRFU; Mr John Mulcahy, of property consultants Jones Lang La Salle; Mr Liam Mulvihill, director-general of the GAA; Mr John Power, a solicitor and legal adviser to Mr J.P. McManus; Mr John Treacy, chief executive of the Sports Council of Ireland; and Mr Michael Walsh, a financial expert.