Editorial: Soaring cost of Casement could swallow up the entire £113 million raised by MLAs, if in fact they can agree to raise any at all

For two years we have heard about the difficulty caused by Stormont’s absence.

​BBC NI, for example, had several reports in December in which a case of individual hardship was covered, and then the person or business in question called for the return of devolution.

But within days of its restoration we have seen how Stormont made things worse, with its populist, even cowardly, approach to spending.

Michelle O’Neill has ruled out water charges. The various parties recoil at the prospect of raising £113 million, which is only a fraction of the perhaps £4 billion the executive will get from the Treasury. But do you hear unionist parties praise the generosity of the UK exchequer against Sinn Fein attack? Do you hear any MLA even tentatively advancing the notion that universal political support for public sector strikes might lead to future demands? Then recall the government’s own part in the financial woes. Chris Heaton-Harris foolishly said of the Casement GAA project: “We'll get the money, don't you worry.”

Yet the soaring cost of Casement could swallow up the entire £113 million raised by MLAs, if in fact they can agree to raise any at all.

It is appropriate for the GAA stadium to get an increased sum of £90 million. That is the inflation-linked sum that it was originally pledged of £62 million almost a decade ago as part of the three stadium plan, after the trio of sports regrettably failed to agree on a single venue. But given that costs have soared to £150 million, maybe even £200m, it is reasonable to expect the wealthy gaelic sporting organisation to fund the difference of what will be a massive asset for them. Or the Irish government, which has not been shy about showing up the UK with unilateral announcements of funding in NI, could step in.

NI has urgent financial demands. It needs efficient governance, public service/sector reform, and some element of revenue raising.