Ireland’s 2023 Rugby World Cup bid could be in jeopardy

“The draft guarantees to be provided by the State to support the staging of the tournament were received from the Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) on April 7," it reads.

“After consideration of the vires (powers) of the Minister, the Office of the Attorney General advised on May 4 that express statutory authority through the passing of primary legislation is necessary for a Minister to provide the necessary guarantees.”

After receiving advice from the Attorney General, Minister Ross drafted the Rugby World Cup 2023 Bill (2017) to help support Ireland's bid and it was approved by the cabinet last week. However, the bill needs to pass through Oireachtas by the summer recess which is at the end of July. Minister Ross has attempted to fast track the emergency legislation, saying:

“Given the urgency of the legislation, I have asked the House Business Committee not to refer the Bill to the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport to move instead to drafting by the Office of the Parliamentary Draughtsmen. I trust you understand the reason for this approach is to do everything in my power to secure passage of this vital piece of legislation in an extremely constrained time period." 

The news has already hit headlines over in South Africa, a country that is also vying to host the tournament, with Sport24 revealing that the country had submitted their final bid on Tuesday and that South African Rugby CEO Jurie Roux is confident of a winning bid. In the build up to the official bid, Ireland have released a number spine-tingling videos to help their bid. https://twitter.com/IrishRugby/status/798495527264321537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.ie%2Fsport%2Fwatch-liam-neeson-voices-inspirational-video-for-irelands-2023-rugby-world-cup-bid-567309 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxVR55TLDik