Stadium Ireland (commonly referred as the "Bertie Bowl") was a proposed sports stadium in Abbotstown, Dublin, Ireland. [1] Its nickname was due to its close association with the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. [2] If it had been built as proposed, the stadium would have served as Ireland's national stadium and hosted home games for both the national football team and national rugby union team. [3]
The government-built 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]
Albert Martin Reynolds was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994. He held cabinet positions between 1979 and 1991, including as Minister for Finance from 1988 to 1991. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Longford–Roscommon from 1977 to 1992 and for Longford–Westmeath from 1992 to 2002.
Celia Larkin, also known as Cecilia Larkin, is a former Irish civil servant and was the partner of the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Since 2020 she has worked for Limerick City and County Council as Limerick City Centre Revitalisation Manager.
Croke Park is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Since 1891 the site has been used by the GAA to host Gaelic sports, including the annual All-Ireland finals in Gaelic football and hurling.
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).
Events from the year 2004 in Ireland.
Events from the year 1999 in Ireland.
Tony Kett was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and member of Seanad Éireann. In 1997, he was elected to the 21st Seanad by the Administrative Panel. He was elected again in 2002 and in 2007.
Cyprian Brady is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency from 2007 to 2011. Brady is a former civil servant who for 20 years ran the constituency office of the former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
The 1994 Fianna Fáil leadership election began in November 1994, when Albert Reynolds resigned as party leader and Taoiseach. Reynolds had been party leader since February 1992 and had served as Taoiseach since then. His successor was elected by the members of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party on 19 December 1994. Bertie Ahern was the only candidate to stand at the time of the election and was thus elected leader, the first to be unanimously elected since Seán Lemass in 1959.
Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, and as Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008. A Teachta Dála (TD) from 1977 to 2011, he served as Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997. He was also Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1986 to 1987, Tánaiste from November to December 1994, and Minister for Finance from 1991 to 1994.
The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments, commonly known as the Mahon Tribunal after the name of its last chairman, was a public inquiry in Ireland established by Dáil Éireann in 1997 to investigate allegations of corrupt payments to politicians regarding political decisions. It mostly investigated planning permissions and land rezoning issues in the 1990s in the Dublin County Council area. Judge Alan Mahon was the final chair of the tribunal and its other members were Judge Mary Faherty and Judge Gerald Keys. The original chairman, who was the sole member until just before his retirement, was Judge Feargus Flood, giving rise to the original common name of the Flood Tribunal.
The 30th Dáil was elected at the 2007 general election on 24 May 2007 and met on 14 June 2007. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland, are known as TDs. It sat with the 23rd Seanad as the two Houses of the Oireachtas.
The Football Association of Ireland is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland.
Mary Fitzpatrick is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as a Senator since June 2020, after being nominated by the Taoiseach.
There is a historical and current bilateral relationship between Ireland and South Africa. Both countries have established embassies in the territory of the other, in Dublin and Pretoria.
Bertie is a four-part miniseries documenting the life of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, which began airing on Irish television channel RTÉ One on 3 November 2008. Featuring interviews interwoven with archive footage, the series examined how he led the country and what drove him through his political career.
Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road or Dublin Arena, is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators. It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and replaced it as home to its chief tenants: the Irish rugby union team and the Republic of Ireland football team. The decision to redevelop the stadium came after plans for both Stadium Ireland and Eircom Park fell through. Aviva Group Ireland signed a 10-year deal for the naming rights in 2009, and subsequently extended the arrangement until 2025.
Joan Collins is an Irish Right to Change politician who was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-Central constituency from 2011 to 2024.
Eircom Park was a proposed association football stadium in Saggart, Dublin, intended to be the home of the Republic of Ireland national football team. The planned 45,000-seater stadium was to be named after national team sponsors Eircom. Plans for Eircom Park were first announced in January 1999, when the Republic of Ireland were playing home games at Lansdowne Road, owned by the IRFU at the time. The plans were criticised for being unrealistic, not least the FAI's intention to host 57 non-sporting events at the stadium each year.
Scotland–Ireland '08 was an unsuccessful bid by the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to host the 2008 UEFA European Championships. In February 2002, the Scottish FA and the FA of Ireland officially confirmed a joint bid for Scotland and the Republic of Ireland to host the 2008 UEFA European Championships. Had the bid been successful, it would have been the first major competition hosted by both nations and the first held on the British Isles since UEFA Euro 1996, hosted by England.