The IRFU would prefer to redevelop Lansdowne Road

Irish rugby received a much-needed financial boost with a �2.4 million grant from the Irish Sports Council into the IRFU coffers.

The grant is based on a promise that over 45,000 children will be introduced to the sport by development officers before the end of this year.

Presenting the news, Ireland's Sports Minister John O'Donoghue praised the IRFU for their track record in providing opportunities for young people.

Mr O'Donoghue made particular mention of Tallaght Project in Dublin where there was an outstanding initiative to involve young people in sport.

At a time when the game of rugby in Ireland is highly competitive and is enjoying its highest profile ever, the Irish Sports Council is happy to back that success.

The grant comes on the top of a previous contribution of �3 million to help encourage greater under-age participation in rugby, football and GAA, particularly disadvantaged groups.

However, MR O'Donoghue was more guarded on the subject of a national stadium for football and rugby.

While he conceded that Lansdowne Road was not suitable for staging major international sporting events, he was unable to say whether it would be redeveloped or a new stadium built at Abbotstown.

Agreement

At present the Government is examining a number of reports, and Mr O'Donoghue was pressed on his thoughts.

"I would like to see it happen in the immediate future but I'm only one member of the government,'' he said.

''The best I can do is to put forward the options and ask the government to agree one of them.

"It's important at this stage that we get agreement on one of the options. If the government decides, in it's wisdom, not to go ahead with the stadium, then I will have done my best to try and provide it.

''We will just have to wait and see what the outcome of the deliberation is."

There is a sense of frustration at both the IRFU and the FAI at the apparent reluctance of the Government to make a decision.

At the moment we're in a vacuum which creates a financial limbo and a planning limbo IRFU Chief Executive Philip Browne

Five sites were originally suggested for a new stadium, but following a report only Lansdowne Road and Abbotstown were said to be financially viable.

IRFU Chief Executive Philip Browne again reiterated that their hands are tied until the government makes a move.

''We've co-operated as fully as we can with the government. What we need is clarity. If you don't have clarity you can't plan,'' Browne told the Irish Times.

''We are reluctant to make capital investments at the moment because we don't know what we're going to need our capital for, be it redeveloping Lansdowne Road or a new national stadium.

''If we get it wrong, we could end up with nothing, and at the moment we're in a vacuum which creates a financial limbo and a planning limbo.''

As for staging rugby internationals at Croke Park, Browne said that there was nothing in the wind as far as that goes.

''We have a good working relationship with the operational side of Croke Park,'' he said.

''We share information on the running of a stadium. But we have had no dialogue and there is no dialogue planned, with the GAA at the moment.''