The Government ‘cannot commit’ to funding Casement without more details on costs

The UK Government cannot confirm whether it will provide funding for the Casement Park redevelopment until it knows the cost and sees revised stadium proposals, Hilary Benn has said.

The Northern Ireland minister made the comments after the GAA expressed hope that a lower specification refurbishment project could be carried out without unduly draining public coffers.

GAA president Jarlath Burns said the organization was still planning to build a stadium with a capacity of more than 30,000, but he said the facilities would be more “modest and simple” than envisaged when the stadium was allocated as a venue. Euro 2028 football tournament.

It is understood the GAA have now returned to the plan that was drawn up for Casement before it was chosen as the Euro venue.

Mr Burns led a GAA delegation to a meeting with Stormont Communities Minister Gordon Lyons in Belfast to discuss the stalled project on Thursday.

In September, the UK government dashed hopes that the now disused stadium in west Belfast would host Euro 2028 games when it announced it would not meet the funding gap to complete the refurbishment in a timely manner.

It said the risk to the state budget if the tournament deadline was missed was too high.

The government has also expressed concern that the cost of the project has potentially risen to more than £400 million.

In 2011, Stormont committed to redeveloping Casement Park as part of a stadium strategy that included the redevelopment of Windsor football park and Ravenhill rugby ground.

While two other projects in Belfast continued, the Casement redevelopment was delayed due to legal challenges from local residents.

Stormont management then committed £62.5 million to the Casement project.

The GAA has pledged £15 million.

The Irish government has committed around £42 million to the project and has said that funding will remain in place even if the stadium is not built for euros.

After the UK government closed Casement as a Euro venue, Mr Lyons insisted the executive remains committed to redeveloping the ground for GAA use.

Mr Benn was asked on Thursday whether the Government was prepared to top up Casement Park’s funding pool even though it would no longer host the Euros.

During a visit to Wrightbus in Ballymena, the Northern Ireland Minister told reporters he was unable to confirm whether additional funding would be received from the Treasury.

“I welcome the fact that Jarlath Burns has reportedly said that the Casement Park proposal will be reconsidered,” he said.

“The Prime Minister said some time ago that we needed to consider an alternative proposal and I look forward to hearing from the Executive following these discussions further information about this proposal, including what the cost is, because I am not in a position to give commitment today.

“We don’t know what the price is. We don’t know what the gap is.

“But it has been a long-standing commitment from the Executive to ensure Casement Park is built.

“But we need to do it in stages and I look forward to hearing more about what this renovated stadium looks like.”

Mr Benn added: “I would like to know what the cost of this revised proposal is and I look forward to hearing from the Executive and the GAA as to what exactly that is.

“But at this point it seems like a very, very big gap.”

After Thursday’s meeting, Mr. Burns said he was confident the project was a “priority” for Mr. Lyons.

However, the GAA president said the delivery date for the new stadium had not yet been determined.

He said Mr Lyons would have to present the GAA’s plan to the wider Stormont management for consideration.

“We have reconsidered the type of stadium that will be built based on the fact that we will no longer be getting Euros,” Mr Burns said.

“He (Mr Lyons) took it all on board.

“It’s a significantly lower cost because we’ve taken a lot of the equipment out of it to try and make it as low a cost to the public purse as possible because we recognize there are a lot of demands on the community. wallet at the moment and we are responsible people and we want to make sure that when Casement Park is built it will be built to safety standards but not to overly luxurious standards that will waste money. from other important projects.”

He added: “We’re still looking at a capacity of over 30,000 people, but we can still do it with a simpler and more modest finish because we think it’s very important that although we get our stadium, which is obviously part of stadium strategy and infrastructure strategy, as well as the government priorities program, that we do this responsibly.

“We were able to maintain the number of people it would fit in while still having a lower specification.”

Mr Burns said he was reluctant to release the latest cost figures for the redevelopment as it was commercially sensitive ahead of the tender.

He also said he wanted to discuss the plan personally with the Northern Ireland secretary to determine the government’s position on funding.

“I remain confident in Hilary Benn and what he can do for us,” Mr Burns added.

The GAA president also said his organization would not commit any additional funds beyond the £15 million already pledged.

Asked when he thought Casement might eventually be delivered, Mr Burns said: “We don’t have a time frame to be honest, it’s in the hands of others because we’re waiting for the funding gap to be closed.

“We hope this can happen soon.

“It’s really now in the hands of the executive and obviously in the hands of the British government and the Treasury to see what they’re going to come up with to close this funding gap.”