The Gaelic Athletic Association is to commence discussions with the Irish Rugby Football Union "on the preparation of a bid to host the rugby World Cup" in '23 or '27, according to Sean Moran of the IRISH TIMES. This follows last Saturday’s vote by annual congress "to endorse last summer’s decision by Central Council to make available a number of its grounds to facilitate the proposal." It is assumed that CrokePark "will be needed to host the final of the tournament, which requires a capacity of at least 60,000." Use of the other venues "will be decided after discussions between the organisations." CrokePark Stadium Dir & GAA Commercial Manager Peter McKenna said, "Now that the votes been taken the next step is to meet with the IRFU and get an idea of the requirements." Aside from the 82,300-capacity CrokePark, the grounds involved and discussed by Central Council are: Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney (capacity 43,000), Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork (43,000), Limerick’s Gaelic Grounds (50,000), Pearse Stadium in Galway (30,000) and Casement Park in Belfast (32,000) (IRISH TIMES, 3/25).
