Croke Park opens to soccer and Rugby
{{date|April 17, 2005}}

After intense campaigning during the week, yesterday at [[w:GAA|GAA]] Congress delegates voted to open [[w:Croke Park|Croke Park]] to [[w:Soccer|Soccer]] and [[w:Rugby|Rugby]] by 227 votes to 97. The stadium which can seat 82,500, is by far [[Ireland|Ireland's]] largest and indeed one of the largest in [[w:Europe|Europe]].

Traditionally soccer and rugby internationals had been played in the much smaller [[w:Landsdowne Road|Landsdowne Road]] stadium, but due to redevelopment it seemed that all internationals would have to be played in the [[United Kingdom|UK]]. However this situation has now been avoided with the vote by delegates to amend Rule 42 to allow soccer and rugby to be played at Croke Park during the redevelopment of Landsdowne Road. The works are expected to take three years to complete.

The international matches that can now be played in [[w:Dublin|Dublin]] are expected to generate several million euros of revenue for the local economy. 

==Sources==

*{{source|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-1562545,00.html| title=Rugby set to make its Croke Park debut | author= |pub=The Sunday Times|date=April 17, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2005/04/17/srcrok17.xml&sSheet=/sport/2005/04/17/ixrugu.html| title=Croke Park gets rugby and soccer | author=Nick Alexander |pub=The Telegraph|date=April 17, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/4452449.stm| title= Croke Park opened to other sports | author= |pub=BBC News|date=April 16, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=rugbyNews&storyID=URI:urn:newsml:reuters.com:20050416:MTFH45886_2005-04-16_16-38-56_L11411105:1| title=Ireland's GAA votes to open up Croke Park | author= |pub=Reuters|date=April 16, 2005}}

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After intense campaigning during the week, yesterday at GAA Congress delegates voted to open Croke Park to Soccer and Rugby by 227 votes to 97. The stadium which can seat 82,500, is by far Ireland's largest and indeed one of the largest in Europe.

Traditionally soccer and rugby internationals had been played in the much smaller Landsdowne Road stadium, but due to redevelopment it seemed that all internationals would have to be played in the UK. However this situation has now been avoided with the vote by delegates to amend Rule 42 to allow soccer and rugby to be played at Croke Park during the redevelopment of Landsdowne Road. The works are expected to take three years to complete.

The international matches that can now be played in Dublin are expected to generate several million euros of revenue for the local economy.
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