John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

Clearly, it is difficult to know what the planning authority will say about the objections that have been raised. On 12 January 2006 the planning application for the proposed new stadium was lodged with Dublin City Council by the development company and the closing date for the lodgment of objections was Wednesday, 15 February 2006. A total of 151 submissions were received, of which 20 were from rugby and soccer clubs that generally supported the project, while the remaining 130 were objections or semi-neutral observations with a large concentration made by residents or residents' associations. The objections were along predictable lines and issues included the stadium size, sun and daylight, crowd behaviour and so on. The development company is preparing material in response to the city council's request for further information.

If the stadium does not proceed, the probability is that the Lansdowne Road site would be developed for commercial purposes and office blocks, shopping centres, houses and apartments and so on built. A magnificent stadium, which has been praised by a number of the State's leading environmentalists, would not be more intrusive than a concrete jungle.

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