Ministers have agreed to back the Football Association of Ireland’s (FAI) bid for the 2029 Women’s Champions League Final to be held in Dublin.The Aviva Stadium is to be proposed as the venue, though Ireland is facing rival bids from Wales, France and Switzerland. The proposal to support the FAI was brought to Cabinet by Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan. Ministers heard that a successful bid to host the match was expected to generate between €8 million and €17 million in economic benefits, while supporting between 150 and 300 jobs.The first major international women’s football final to be hosted in Ireland would also boost tourism and help grow participation in women’s and girls’ football, the Cabinet was told. The total projected cost to the State of hosting the match would be about €3.25 million, including transport, policing and stadium-related costs. Government guarantees across areas such as security, visas, taxation and ticketing are also required as part of the bid. Ireland was previously successful in a bid to co-host the Euro 2028 tournament along with England, Scotland and Wales. Separately, O’Donovan sought Government approval for the text of legislation for a new Government funding package totalling €75 million up to 2030 to help sustain the nationwide post office network. The funding is intended to help provide greater certainty for postmasters, support rural communities and help avoid large-scale closures.Meanwhile, a new system to send alerts to the public in advance of extreme weather events is expected to cost up to €15 million and be operational by 2027.O’Donovan got Government to approve the procurement of a Cell Broadcast Public Warning System that can send emergency alerts directly to all mobile phones in a specific area during major emergencies such as severe storms, flooding or other national crises. The technology can send alerts simultaneously to all phones connected to local 4G and 5G masts, avoiding the network congestion and message-length limitations associated with traditional SMS text alerts. Similar systems are already in operation in countries such as the UK. Procurement is expected to take place during 2026, with implementation and transfer to the Office of Emergency Planning in 2027.