Call for Casement Park funds to be 'clawed back' as MP warns of further financial pressure on the Executive
Taxpayer money spent on the Casement Park project should be “clawed back” to the public purse from revenue generated by events such as concerts held at the ground – if it gets the final go-ahead, the TUV has said.
It comes as Sammy Wilson has accused the Secretary of State of attacking communities minister Gordon Lyons because he “has not kowtowed” to the government’s plans for the Gaelic ground.
The DUP MP said the government minister had now imposed further financial pressure on the Executive, who now have to find “a further £100m to £150m on top of what is already allocated”.
Ireland’s deputy premier Simon Harris said on Friday the Irish government is “willing to consider helping further”.
This week the government committed another £50m to the GAA stadium redevelopment, but uncertainty remains over the precise details of the money allocated and whether it will need to be paid back by Stormont.
Secretary of State Hilary Benn has now put the focus back on the Northern Ireland Executive to complete the West Belfast project, saying the UK government has done its bit.
SDLP leader Claire Hanna has called on the Executive to increase its contribution – saying the “minimum required” is an inflationary rise in its original £62.5m commitment.
Meanwhile, the GAA has declined to be drawn on whether it will increase its £15m offer. The Irish government has pledged £43m.
The TUV’s culture spokesperson Councillor Matthew Warwick said his party has been “consistently clear in opposing the reckless use of public money to fund Casement Park — especially at a time when our health service is in crisis, our roads are crumbling, and many working families are struggling to make ends meet. There are many much more deserving causes for public funding”.
The TUV man added: “However, since the project has now been driven forward, with over a hundred million pounds of taxpayers’ money committed, it is only right that the public purse begins to see something back.
“Casement will host non-GAA events such as concerts. If that’s going to happen, then any revenue generated by those events should not simply be used to line GAA pockets. A fair proportion must be clawed back to the public purse until the additional spend over and above the GAA’s fair allocation of monies is recovered.
“This provision should be built into any letter of offer of additional money. Anything less would be another slap in the face for the taxpayer.”
Meanwhile, East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson has said criticism of Gordon Lyons by Hilary Benn is borne out of the government’s annoyance at the DUP Minister over Casement. The Secretary of State said that the East Antrim MLA should reconsider his words after a post saying migrants had been moved on from Larne Leisure Centre, before the building was attacked by rioters. Mr Lyons said it was an attempt to calm the situation after false information was spread on social media.
Mr Wilson said: “The unprecedented attack on Gordon Lyons by biased Benn is driven more by the fact that Gordon Lyons as minister has consistently refused to cave in to the Secretary of State’s demand for favourable treatment for GAA funding rather than equal funding across all sports in Northern Ireland.
“In informing those who were planning to protest at Larne Leisure Centre that there was no reason to protest at that location, my colleague was actually trying to diffuse the likelihood of violent protest in Larne. If the Secretary of State had even made any attempt to check his facts he would have known this, but instead engaged in his natural knee jerk reaction to find some reason to criticise a DUP minister”.
He accused Mr Benn of showing “clear bias by allocating £50m to one sport in Northern Ireland while ignoring the need for equal treatment of all sports”.
He said Gordon Lyons “will still be around when Hapless Hilary Benn and the hopeless Government he belongs to is long gone.”