User:Jnestorius/Sports Campus Ireland

Did you know...

...that the cancelled stadium planned for Sports Campus Ireland was nicknamed the "Bertie Bowl", after Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and called "a Ceauşescu-era project" by his own Attorney General?
 * (Don't wikilink "stadium" as there is no separate article for the stadium as opposed to the campus.)

Sports Campus Ireland is a multi-sport campus under development at Abbotstown, Blanchardstown, County Dublin. Announced in 1999, it is intended to provide a range of services for sports administration, training, and competition in the Republic of Ireland. The first part of the facility to open was the National Aquatic Centre in 2003. The main part of the original vision was "Stadium Ireland", an 80,000 all-seater national stadium. This was derisively nicknamed the "Bertie Bowl" after Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, its most enthusiastic advocate. Stadium Ireland was abandoned due to excessive cost, in favour of redeveloping Lansdowne Road in Ballsbridge. Other facilities are being built though public-private partnerships on a prioritised basis as funding permits.

Vision
The Abbotstown site was previously the location of the National Laboratories. In 2000, it was decided as the location for "Stadium Ireland" a proposed all-seater National Stadium for use for Gaelic Games, soccer and rugby. It was dubbed the "Bertie Bowl" after Taoiseach Bertie Aherne, its most enthusiastic backer. Michael McDowell, then Attorney General in Ahern's cabinet, dismissed the stadium as a "Ceausescu-era project".

Development
The State Laboratories have moved to [ Backweston], County Kildare, south of Leixlip.