Any extra money for new GAA Casement stadium 'must be matched with cash for other sports too' says Timothy Gaston
A unionist MLA has said that if there is any more money coming the GAA’s way, then the government must make sure to match it with funding for other sports too.
TUV man Timothy Gaston said to do otherwise would be “unfair to sport generally”.
He was speaking after Northern Ireland’s finance minister John O’Dowd said on Monday that the London government is “solution-finding mode” on the question of Casement funding.
It came after Mr O’Dowd had met with officials from the Treasury.
DUP communities minister Gordon Lyons had said: "I welcome additional funding for sport, but it should be done on a fair and on an equitable basis."
Now Mr Gaston has said: "If there’s money coming from Westminster, then it needs to be proportionate across sports.
"So if Westminster was to decide in the morning they’re going to give X amount of millions to Casement, then they should be giving that to other sports as well.
“Every other sport has had to make do with the money come through the devolved administration. But if they’re going to open up a second pot, then that needs to be opened up to all sports. It needs to be proportionate and it needs to be fair.
"A Westminster pot of money on top of the Stormont pot of money [just for the GAA] is unfair to us. It’s unfair to sport generally.”
It comes as Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood gets set to host GAA president Michael Geoghegan and chief executive Brian McAvoy on a visit to Westminster tomorrow, “with a particular focus on the need to redevelop Casement Park”.
In a statement announcing the visit, Ms Eastwood said: “We cannot afford any more missed opportunities. Alliance has consistently called for Casement Park to be built, and despite the promises that have since been broken, we want to see the project completed without any further delay.”
The story of the new Casement stadium has its origins in 2011, when the Northern Irish government announced it would give cash to three major sporting outfits so they could rebuild stadiums: £61.4m to the IFA, £61.4m to the GAA, and £15m to the IRFU.
The IFA and IRFU money has long been spent, but the GAA money never was and over time the cost of rebuilding Casement Park – which has been unused since 2013 – has since spiralled.
Originally, the commonly-cited estimate was £77m.
But by September 2024, the new Labour government said that the costs had risen to “potentially over £400m”.
The GAA has so far only been willing to commit to £15m.