SHANE CLEARY, chief executive of the Royal Dublin Society, has called for an urgent meeting with the organisers of the 1998 Nissan World equestrian Games (WEG) and their title sponsor in an attempt to break the stalemate between the two sides over the terms of agreement for rental of the RDS showgrounds for the two-week fixture.

Both sides claim different reasons for the impasse, which has come about after two years of negotiation. The RDS states that agreement on the financial arrangements for WEG Ireland to pay a "greatly reduced" rental of £300,000 in a series of phased payments is the main stumbling block, but WEG Ireland is blaming the proposed building of a five-star hotel on the RDS grounds as the cause of the stalemate.

WEG Ireland claims that work on the hotel, which is to be sited on the corner of the Merrion and Simmonscourt roads, will seriously disrupt the World Games and will also result in severely restricted stabling at the showgrounds. Building work is due to commence in the spring, despite a request for a deferred start-up date by WEG Ireland.

Following a meeting between the two sides last week, Cleary stated that there had been "significant changes in WEG's approach to the negotiations. The fundamental principals of payment have never changed on our side," he said yesterday.

Receipt of a letter from WEG chairman James Osborne outlining the latest WEG Ireland proposals prompted Cleary to call a meeting with representatives of the RDS equestrian committee on Wednesday to discuss the situation, and the matter was also debated at the monthly board of management meeting on Thursday.

Cleary has now written to WEG Ireland requesting an urgent meeting between RDS and WEG Ireland representatives and the Games' title sponsor, Nissan.

In WEG Ireland's original proposal, the RDS was named as the venue for three of the six equestrian disciplines for the 1998 fixture, with the show jumping, dressage and vaulting all due to be staged at the Dublin showgrounds in August next year.