Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar has said he believes Ireland has a 50/50 chance of hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2023.
Varadkar was speaking on tonight’s Off the Ball when he said he felt Ireland’s chacnes stood at roughly 50/50 and our main competition for the tournament would be South Africa. When asked about Ireland’s chances of hosting the event, Varadkar said:
“I think they’re very good. Our main competition is probably going to be South Africa.
“I suppose the only thing that might go against us is that the next two World Cups are going to be in the northern hemisphere so people might take the view that it’s the southern hemisphere’s turn. And it is the first time we’re going for it. You know the way sometimes when you go for a job a few times, the third time they give it to you. And this will be South Africa’s third time bidding for a second go at it.
“I think there’s at least a 50/50 chance that we’ll pull it off and if we don’t then we’ll be in a very strong position for 2027,” he said.
As a nation too small to ever host the FIFA World Cup or Olympic games Varadkar proposed that “This is the biggest thing we can do,” in sporting terms, as a nation and “it would be great for the country and great for sport.”
A similarly sized nation, New Zealand, hosted the 2011 World Cup and Varadkar favourably compared Ireland’s infrastructure and transport links to the Southern Hemisphere nation.
"Our infrastructure is inferior to New Zealand and we have a smaller population, so we can do it.”
“We have better air, ferry, road and rail than New Zealand,” Varadkar said.
Tournaments such as the RWC often leave a legacy of heavy debt on the host nation, with a fee of roughly €120m to be paid to the IRB. Varadkar said he believes this cost, along with the costs of stadium redevelopment, infrastructure improvements etc. would be covered by an influx of visitors to Ireland for the World Cup.
“If we get the numbers we expect to travel, it could bring in the region of €200m in taxes, though the IRB will have to be paid somewhere in the region of €120m for hosting,” Varadkar said.
“The Rugby World Cup is great for the country, but I don’t want to be left with a bill as was seen at Athens for the Olympics and Sheffield for the World Student Games.”
Minister Varadkar also discussed the new TV deal announced yesterday by the GAA, which sees Sky Sports take exclusive rights to 14 championship games each year for the next 3 years. Varadkar said he can see why some are upset by the move, but he ultimately sees it as an issue solely for the GAA but said he would be interested in learning more about how any extra revenue would be spent.
“It is a decision of the GAA. It’s not something that the government is consulted on or has any role in, so it is a decision for them.
“I can understand where people are coming from...but at the same time all the big games are still going to be on RTE. I think what’s really positive is the fact that its going to be much easier to see the games overseas.
“I think the key thing really is that if they are getting extra money out of this, you know I’d like to know where that’s going to be invested. Is it going to go into youth programmes, investment, Pairc Ui Chaoimh? That’s what I’d like to know that I don’t know.”
Minister Varadkar also discussed government plans for sport – both supporting high performance athletes and increasing participation on a more general population level, along with much more in depth discussion on the viability of a Rugby World Cup bid, what needs to be done to make one successful and the potential benefits for Ireland.
Listen to the full interview via the player below or download on iTunes
