Stadium Ireland (commonly referred as the "Bertie Bowl") was the name of a proposed government built sports stadium in
,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. Its nickname was due to its close association with the then
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
,
Bertie Ahern
Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...
. The stadium would have served as Ireland's national stadium and would have hosted home games for both the
national football team and
national rugby union team.
The stadium was planned to hold 75,000, and was central to Ireland's joint (and ultimately unsuccessful) bid with the
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...
to host
UEFA Euro 2008
The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...
.
The Stadium Ireland project was abandoned by September 2002 because of spiraling costs and waning support.
[ Government backing was instead given to the redevelopment of ]Lansdowne Road
Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...
into the Aviva Stadium
Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and r ...
, which officially opened in May 2010.
Ahern remarked in April 2020 that the "Bertie Bowl" could still be built if someone had the "political guts".
See also
* Eircom Park
Eircom Park was the name of 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 ...
* National Sports Campus
The National Sports Campus ( ga, An Campas Náisiúnta Spórt) is a large site in the western suburbs of Dublin, Ireland, which contains a number of sporting facilities. It is operated by the National Sports Campus Development Authority and is ho ...
References
Bertie Ahern
Unbuilt stadiums in the Republic of Ireland
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