Casement Park: UK won't give enough to cover £150m cash shortfall - if it hands over any money at all, says Hilary Benn
Any Westminster cash coming to Casement Park won’t be enough to cover the £150m that’s stalling the project, Secretary of State Hilary Benn has said.
That’s if the UK government decides to give any money to the West Belfast stadium project at all, he added, which it hasn’t.
Mr Benn also pointed out that planning permission for the long-delayed rebuild is due to run out next summer; unless work starts on site before then, he reinforced, Casement could be staring at yet another setback as it spends two or three years trying to sort out planning approval all over again.
Speaking during a visit to Londonderry today (27th), Mr Benn revealed he’d talked about the issue with Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, and had made it clear that he couldn’t commit the UK government to providing cash for Casement Park.
“Even if there were to be a contribution, it is not going to fill the hole,” he added.
“Therefore all of those who are interested in seeing this project developed are going to have to sit down and say where are we going to get the funding from.”
Although it was budgeted at £400m, the stadium project recently downsized after it became clear it wouldn’t be ready in time for 2028’s Euro Championships, which are to be held across the UK and Ireland.
Now priced at £270m, a combination of money from Stormont, Dublin and the GAA has £124m in the Casement pot.
Said Mr Benn: "The GAA has their design, they have taken out some things that would have been required for the Euros that are no longer required.
"[All those trying to make the stadium happen], how are you going to bring the cost of the development closer to the cost of the funds that may eventually be available?”
He reinforced, however, that right now London can’t promise to give the project any money at all.
“I am being absolutely crystal clear, if I am in a position to make an announcement about a UK contribution I will do so,” he said, “but I am not going to make a promise I can’t keep. We are in the middle of a spending review that will conclude in June.”
Turning to the planning deadline, he said that applying for approval again would mean “another two or three years of delay”.
“The practical thing to consider in those circumstances is what might you be able to start on the site with the money you have got, so you secure the planning permission and don’t end up with a further delay.”
Plans to redevelop Belfast’s principal hurling and GAA stadium into a much larger facility were first mooted in 2009, but really got into gear in 2011 with an eight-figure Stormont grant.
It ran into a long series of battles with West Belfast residents, who didn’t want the originally planned 40,000-seat stadium in their area. In 2021, it won planning permission as a 34,500-capacity venue; construction was meant to begin in 2023, but it suffered a further setback when the firm contracted to build it went bust.
Mooted as a Euro 2028 host stadium, by September last year the cost of building the venue in line with UEFA regulations had ballooned to £400m and the UK government refused to fund it.