The Government's long-awaited decision to support the €250million joint IRFU/FAI proposal to re-develop Lansdowne Road as a 50,000-seater national stadium was greeted with collective sighs of relief from both sporting bodies this afternoon.
As the protracted saga over where to locate the national stadium finally reached a conclusion, the Minster for Arts Sports and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, also gave commitment to the 'phased delivery' of a sports campus at Abbotstown.
The Lansdowne proposal, due for completion in 2008, will meet all the international standards for rugby and soccer, and significantly, the pitch area will also be of sufficient size to accommodate Gaelic Games.
"This is a landmark day for Irish sport as we bring our national sporting infrastructure into the 21st Century," said O'Donoghue. "Our international sports of rugby and soccer will now have a platform on which they can showcase themselves to the sporting world."
Today's news means the FAI can now plan a schedule to play their 2006 World Cup qualifying home games at Lansdowne Road when they meet with officials from the other countries in their qualifying group next Tuesday.
Until now FIFA would not grant the FAI further derogation on the temporary seating issue for international matches at Lansdowne Road because there was no firm commitment to a national stadium in place.
The Dublin 4 venue has a 48,000 capacity for rugby internationals and soccer friendlies. However, that is reduced to 33,000 because FIFA safety regulations insist on temporary seating on the north and south terraces for soccer internationals.
The proposal's main stumbling block is likely to come at the planning stage as local residents have already voiced their concerns for the project, although IRFU chief executive Phillip Browne is confident problems can be overcome.
"We are not concerned about the planning," said Browne. "At the end of the day, we now have to sit down and go through the planning process and part of that is obviously to consult with out neighbours at Lansdowne Road."
Across the city, plans for Abbotstown include medical, research and training support for elite athlete development and will provide administrative facilities for sporting bodies. With the help of private sector investment, Abbotstown is expected to include an indoor sporting arena and outdoor training pitches.
"We positively welcome the announcement of the campus at Abbotstown," said FAI chief executive Fran Rooney who can now look at housing their soccer academy there. "We want to build a national coaching academy and centre of excellence there for our young players and coaches."
The FAI will also look at relocating their administrative headquarters from their existing Georgian offices on Merrion Square to Abbotstown.
Today's Government support for the national stadium has been a long time coming but as Browne stated: "The key thing today is that we all got over the first hurdle, which was to give the project legs. Now we have to put flesh on that skeleton and move forward collectively."