Business figures have urged the Government to build a national stadium in Dublin's inner city, if it decides not to go ahead with the full Campus Stadium Ireland in Abbotstown.
Last night, the Government firmly rejected Sunday Tribune reports that it had already begun to look at the Irish Glass Bottle plant in Ringsend, where glass manufacturing will cease shortly.
The Government spokesperson, having checked with officials in the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, firmly declared: "There is no option being explored other than Abbotstown."
The Irish Times learnt reliably that business figures recently suggested that the Ringsend location would be a better option if the Government decided only to build a stadium.
"The logic is that Abbotstown is fine if you are going to go ahead with everything, the velodrome, the arena etc. But an inner city site would be better if it is just a stadium," said a source.
Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats agreed in their programme for government that they would build a national stadium, though no mention was made of Abbotstown or the full sports campus favoured by Mr Ahern.
The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, along with CSID, the national sporting bodies and the Office of Public Works, is to bring forward proposals "as soon as possible".
The proposal to consider Dublin's inner city emerged after some businessmen feared that difficulties within the Coalition on the issue could hold up the project indefinitely.
International financier Mr J.P McManus committed $60 million to the original Abbotstown project.
PricewaterhouseCoopers selected the west Dublin lands after it inspected 20 options, including a number in the city centre.
Sources quoted by the Sunday Tribune said they believed that the Irish Glass Bottle site, or two other sites owned by Bord Gáis, could host a 50,000-seat stadium
None of them would require the same level of spending on roads and rail that will be needed by Abbotstown. However, Ardagh Plc, the owners of Irish Glass Bottle, insisted that the Ringsend property - which is leased from Dublin Port on a 20-year rollover lease - is not available. "When manufacturing ceases on the Ringsend site, it will continue to be used by the company. Its current use is for manufacturing, storage and warehousing and it is the company's intention to use it on an ongoing basis for warehousing purposes."
Last night, sources close to Ardagh said it had a right to renew its tenancy, though the end of manufacturing could raise a question mark on this point.
Shortly before he left office, the Minister for the Marine, Mr Fahey, appointed Mr Joe Burke as chairman of Dublin Port.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, whose Dublin South East constituency includes Ringsend, insisted that he knew nothing about the suggestions. Mr McDowell campaigned against the Abbotstown project.
Campus Stadium Ireland Development (CSID) sources said they knew nothing about any proposed change. "I would be very, very surprised," said one. Bord Gáis Éireann owns two tracts of properties in the area.
One has dockland frontage, while the other, near Lansdowne Road, has only recently been decontaminated after a century of gas production.
