Stadium Ireland

Stadium Ireland (commonly referred as the "Bertie Bowl") was the name of a proposed government built sports stadium in Abbotstown, Dublin, Ireland.[1] Its nickname was due to its close association with the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.[2] The stadium would have served as Ireland's national stadium and would have hosted home games for both the national football team and national rugby union team.[3]

The stadium was planned to hold 75,000, and was central to Ireland's joint (and ultimately unsuccessful) bid with the Scottish Football Association to host UEFA Euro 2008.[4][5] The Stadium Ireland project was abandoned by September 2002 because of spiraling costs and waning support.[5][6] Government backing was instead given to the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road into the Aviva Stadium, which officially opened in May 2010.[7]

Ahern remarked in April 2020 that the "Bertie Bowl" could still be built if someone had the "political guts".[8][9]

See also

References
  1. "RTÉ News: Taoiseach says "Bertie Bowl" dream still alive". RTÉ. 1 February 2002. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  2. McKittrick, David (12 September 2002). "Irish cabinet pulls plug on 'Bertie Bowl'". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 12 November 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  3. "Whatever happened to... The 65,000-seat 'Bertie Bowl' stadium in west Dublin?". thejournal.ie. 29 January 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  4. "The Euro 2008 contenders". bbc.co.uk. 9 December 2002. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  5. McDonald, Henry; Khan, Stephen (15 September 2002). "Bertie Bowl fiasco will hit bid for Euro 2008". The Observer. London. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  6. McCarthy, Colm (20 March 2005). "Bertie to pitch good money after bad". independent.ie. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  7. "Official Opening Of The Aviva Stadium, Lansdowne Road, Friday, May 14, 2010". irishrugby.ie. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  8. Pownall, Sylvia (19 April 2020). "Bertie Ahern says Bertie Bowl could still be built if someone has the 'political guts'". irishmirror.ie. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  9. Neville, Conor (19 April 2020). "'They were probably anti-sport' - The rise and fall of the Bertie Bowl". rte.ie. Retrieved 10 December 2020.


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