Property developer Mr Noel Smyth has said that the national stadium can be built at Abbotstown by a private consortium, along with a major exhibition and concert venue, as long as the Government offers tax breaks.
Under his proposal the Abbotstown land would remain in the ownership of the State and the full stadium would be handed back to the Government in "25 to 30 years", he told The Irish Times.
"I think this is a great project that has been talked into the rubbish bin," said Mr Smyth, whose company, Dunloe Ewart, pitched to build the ill-fated Eircom Park for the Football Association of Ireland.
The FAI, the Irish Rugby Football Association and a mix of businesses, including an exhibition organiser and concert promoter, could become anchor tenants of the Abbotstown project. "It would be a roaring success," he declared.
Currently, major exhibitions in Ireland can only be held in the RDS in Dublin, which Mr Smyth described as "an agricultural shed that does not promote good business".
The construction of the Abbotstown project would require tax breaks to be viable, he said. "But I believe that The Square in Tallaght would not have got off the ground without capital allowances," he added.
In addition, the State would retain responsibility for providing transport and other infrastructure to the Abbotstown site, although the cost of this is estimated to run into tens of millions by some quarters. In addition, the full sports campus, including a sport clinic, a velodrome etc, as envisaged by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, would not happen immediately. "But they would happen in time," said the developer.
He rejected suggestions that the State would "hand over" the land to private developers. "Whatever you may think, that doesn't happen. One of the things that governments do not do is hand over land."
The organisers of the Euro 2008 football championships will be told before Christmas whether Ireland can guarantee two stadiums for its joint bid with Scotland. The assurance was offered by the Minister for Arts and Sport, Mr O'Donoghue, following a meeting in Dublin with UEFA officials.
"If we can't, we will be honest about it," said Mr O'Donoghue, who met the UEFA organisers and officials from the joint FAI/Scotland Football Association bid. During a 30-minute meeting, the Taoiseach said that the Government remained committed to hosting the championships here and "was anxious to ensure to keep the momentum in the process".
