land in the Dublin suburb of Tallaght to build a new stadium. On 30 March 2000, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern turned the sod at the site. However, work on the stadium ceased in 2001 and in March 2005, South Dublin County Council announced that they were taking back the land that they had granted to the club, as the conditions of the planning permission had not been met. A public consultation process was initiated in July 2005 and a resolution was passed in December 2005 to alter the stadium to accommodate senior GAA games while still having Shamrock Rovers as the preferred tenants. This decision was subject to additional government funding. This funding was not made available and on 13 January 2006 the council voted to proceed with the original plan. This second vote was challenged by a local Gaelic Athletic Association club, Thomas Davis who wanted the vote on 13 January 2006 declared illegal thus forcing the county council to build the GAA stadium. Thomas Davis claimed that the capacity of the stadium (initially 6,000, ultimately 10,000) would not be affected by the change, the other parties involved disputed this and argued that the capacity would be reduced. Requests under the freedom of information act to both South Dublin County Council and the Department of Sport showed that Thomas Davis had not submitted any plans showing that capacity would not be affected. Thomas Davis GAA club instituted judicial review proceedings in the High Court in May 2006. Their main argument was that the decision of the council on 13 February 2006 to revert to the original plans for the stadium, which did not include a senior GAA pitch, was unlawful. Their submission on the technical point was accompanied by cultural arguments that 'the youth of Tallaght will be restricted to a diet of Association football' and that a soccer-only ground would place the 'applicant at a severe disadvantage in attracting the youth of Tallaght to the club, the sport and the GAA culture. The stadium, however, with the original design, could accommodate youth GAA games as the pitch used at this level fits within the stadium's dimensions. It was only adult GAA games that would not have been facilitated. The then Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, consistently supported the government's decision to support the stadium with soccer pitch dimensions, and claimed that the GAA were stalling the