On Wednesday, Dublin City Council outlined that they were seeking to scale back plans for the redevelopment of Dalymount Park, amid rising costs, delays and the withdrawal of Shelbourne from the process of relocating to join Bohemians at the venue.
The two options subsequently on the table are for a scaled back version of the original plan or to refurbish the Jodi Stand, build a new main stand and two terraces.
The design team working on the stadium will present preliminary plans on both of those options, along with a costing report, that will be delivered at the start of September, with a revised construction schedule potentially seeing completion by January 2026.
Speaking on RTÉ's Saturday Sport, Bohemians' chief operating officer Daniel Lambert outlined the timescale and factors behind the alteration in the original plans.
"No one's been more frustrated with Dalymount and the time it's taken than myself and other people at Bohemians," he said.
"We started the process really in 2011. DDC acquired the site in November 2015 but I should say (there was) a really good announcement this week.
"There were delays in terms of a draw-down of funding that was approved by central government to DCC. It happened during Covid and there were lots of delays there.
"What's happened really is the option everyone had known about, the 6,000 all-seater option, the cost inflation had run from €32m up to close to €50m. Obviously that's not viable for a stadium of that size, paid for by the exchequer."
Lambert said the experience of playing Bundesliga side Union Berlin in a friendly this summer had given Bohs a different perspective on the all-seater aspect, given the prevalence of safe standing areas in German stadiums.
"What's funny in the interim is that an all-seater stadium sounded great in 2018. But we went over and played in Union Berlin three weeks ago and the stadium was three sides terrace," he said.
"Terraces is what football fans want and UEFA are allowing it back into European competition and now you see it in the Premier League and the SPL and when you're in Dalymount on a Friday, half the people are standing anyway. They want to stand. The best atmosphere in Croke Park is on the Hill.
"So they're looking at a second option. There's been a re-cost done to see if we can make further savings on the option that everyone has known about and the second thing is to keep the Jodi Stand and to entirely rebuild the rest of the stadium. It should come in cheaper I think, it'll deliver a higher capacity, it'll deliver terracing and I think it'll keep an essence of the soul of Dalymount.
"Football has been played at Dalymount every single season since 1901 and by 4 September we'll have a costing on both and then to progress with one or the other."
Lambert added that Bohs intend to be in the redeveloped venue for 2027 and spoke of his optimism that it will occur.
