Northern Ireland Sports Minister Gordon Lyons says it is ‘only fair’ that the redevelopment of Casement Park goes ahead, pointing out that most people in the country would agree that the GAA should increase their financial contribution to the project.
For over a decade the rebuild of the west Belfast GAA ground has been beset by problems and controversy and that continues due to spiralling construction costs leading to questions about how it will be funded.
Then there’s the significant section of Northern Ireland fans who do not want the Euro 2028 Finals to be played at Casement which is one of 10 designated stadiums for the UK/Ireland based tournament.
Recently diggers have been spotted at the venue with site clearance work ongoing ahead of the proposed redevelopment.
As Uefa watch the situation closely, Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris stated on Wednesday that the UK Government was “working to figure out” how much the renovation of Casement Park would cost, with recent prices “significantly higher” than they were a year ago.
This followed a letter leaked last month where Heaton-Harris told Lyons that he had been informed by Stormont officials that the projected costs for Casement to host the Euros were estimated at £308m.
The original budget was £77.5m with the NI Executive promising to pay £62.5m and the GAA £15m. With costs soaring, the Irish government committed £43m to the project earlier this year but that still leaves a massive shortfall and new GAA President Jarlath Burns has insisted his organisation should not be expected to increase their funding.
Right now it is up to the British government to pay the rest. During Northern Ireland questions at Westminster, Heaton-Harris said: “Any taxpayer contribution to the Casement Park project will need to be made on a value-for-money basis, and I’ve said also many times there is no blank cheque here, especially when there is no contractor appointed yet, we do not want to artificially inflate a price.
“The Northern Ireland Executive will also need to decide on whether and how it will underwrite any future increases in cost, so all partners are working together to try and figure out what the number is and how we can deliver on it.”
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Communities Minister Lyons, who has sport as part of his remit, declared: “Obviously the £62.5m that the Executive committed in 2011 still remains and £15m from the GAA and €50m from the Irish government is there. That’s in and around in total £120m but what we don’t have at the moment is clarity on where the rest will come from.
“I’m obviously not going to go into figures with you in terms of the overall pot that will be required. “We have market tested estimates on that but I’m not at liberty to go into that for reasons to do with procurement though there is an outstanding amount that we need. We don’t have clarity in where that is coming from. “I’ve been in contact with the Secretary of State (Heaton-Harris) and I’m waiting for a response from him.”
Lyons added that before the reconstruction work goes out to tender “in dealing with procurement issues we need to have some surety that we have the funding to proceed”.
Asked how long the NI Executive can wait for the British government, DUP man Lyons replied: “We can’t go forward and start any further stage of the process until we know exactly what we are getting from them. We need to know what their contribution is going to be.”
Asked directly if he wants Casement Park to happen, Lyons said: “It’s an Executive commitment. We haven’t resiled from that in any way. It was a commitment made by an Executive that included DUP Ministers back in 2011 and I think it is only fair we see the redevelopment of Casement Park.
“We have seen progress made in terms of Windsor Park and Ravenhill. “I would have much preferred this project to be finished a long time ago. We have moved beyond the original proposal. “We have got into a space now where it is much more expensive, first of all because of construction inflation and secondly because it’s a much bigger project.” Quizzed on if he felt the GAA should pay more towards Casement Park, Lyons replied: “I think the initial contribution of £15m was in the context of what the overall cost was estimated to be at that time. “That cost has gone up, so, yes, certainly I would welcome an additional contribution considering what the estimated cost is now looking like.”
The GAA have consistently made their stance on extra funding clear. “I think they should ask why, why is it the case you are not prepared to contribute more to this,” said Lyons in reference to that stance.
“Look, that would be welcome. I think they are a sporting organisation with significant funds. I think this is a project that will be of considerable benefit to them and if you were to ask most people in Northern Ireland ‘should the contribution rise from what was agreed 13 years ago?’ I think most would agree that would probably be sensible.”
Given so many Northern Ireland fans are against the Euro 2028 Finals going to Casement, what is the Sports Minister’s view on that? “I’d love to see the Euros in Northern Ireland. Obviously I think the preference for many would be that a footballing tournament happens at a football stadium,” he said. “Many of the fans I’ve been speaking to would have liked to have seen it at Windsor Park. That’s not on the table at the minute.”
Pressed on the matter, Lyons added: “I would love to see Northern Ireland be part of the Euros and I’d love to see the Northern Ireland team be involved in the Euros as well. I think the preference would be it would be at the home of the national team but we absolutely want to see the Euros take place.” Put to Lyons that he is now the most influential person in sport in Northern Ireland and that it would be appropriate for a straight answer on whether he wanted to see the national team play at Casement Park in the Euros in 2028, he said: “I’d take a bit of an issue here with the question because this isn’t on my shoulders. There are a number of people here that are involved in this. “It’s not simply a decision for the Department of Communities, this goes much wider. This is not something we can take forward by ourselves.
“We need to make sure that everybody is involved and this doesn’t fall on one person’s shoulders but certainly I would love to be cheering on Northern Ireland in the Euros and if that is in Casement Park I’d be happy to cheer them on.”
by toptaggers
8 comments
Seems rule 3 was broken so the previous post was removed.
Forget the Euros and make Casement fit the size of the budget. If the U.K. gas committed £60m, Ireland £40m and the GAA £15m, then design a stadium to fit that, whether it’s 10k, 20k or 30k. There are plenty of other stadiums on the mainland or in the Republic that can host the tiny number of Euro games Casement Park was supposed to hold. The new Everton stadium and Glasgow have great ferry and flight links to Northern Ireland, so share them out between those two.
That’s embarrassing.
Another nail in the coffin for the union. Nationalists are still not treated equally in this statelet.
Down South has a surplus budget of 8Billion can they not throw a few quid up the road.
Quick question for anyone who might now better. If Casement Park doesn’t get built, then there is no suitable UEFA Standard venue in Belfast, so does that mean NI is still a host nation and, as such, be considered for automatic qualification?
In other news water is wet.
Funny. Why do I think if this was an Orange Hall Sports Hall it would be approved?