GAA boss Jarlath Burns vows no more cash for Casement Park rebuild

Uefa officials visit Northern Ireland this week to inspect progress ahead of the 2028 football tournament – but there is still no agreement on how the stadium will be funded.

Casement is scheduled to host five games at the European championships, potentially including Northern Ireland matches.

Jarlath Burns told BBC’s ‘Good Morning Ulster’ programme yesterday that the GAA “are not found wanting when it comes to spending money throughout the country but on this particular issue for me it is a point of principle.

“We have pledged £15m in the programme for government for the last 12 years there is a very strong commitment that Casement Park and it should be delivered.”

He said it is “unfair” to ask the GAA to come up with more money as it is not a profit-making organisation.

The GAA will keep gate receipts from games at the 34,500-capacity stadium when it is built.

Mr Burns also told the BBC: “When you go into small villages or town all across Ireland and all you see is a school and a pub and a massive GAA complex, that hasn't happened by accident.”

The News Letter has contacted the Communities Minister Gordon Lyons for a response.

TUV Belfast City councillor Ron McDowell said: “It is beyond unreasonable for the new GAA president to double down and insist that his organisation will not be contributing anything more to cover the cost of Casement Park.

“The original breakdown for the project would have seen the GAA pay 20% of the costs. Now the estimated cost has ballooned but the GAA contribution has remained static.

“It is important to remember that this is not an organisation which is short of a bob or two.

“Last year the GAA brought in €112 million. In 2022 it got €7.6 million from the Gareth Brooks concerts at Croke Park.

“Frankly, the GAA is far too greedy and is taking hard pressed tax payers for a ride.

“They must up their contribution to the project and further government funding must be conditional on tax payers being able to claw back some of their generous contribution to the project via the profits of non-GAA events at Casement.”

The department for communities told the News Letter last week that it won’t be providing any comments on the costs of redeveloping Casement Park for “commercial reasons” – and revealed no more money has been released for the project in recent months.

In December, the department said that it had provided £11.9m of grant funding to the Ulster Council of the GAA – and officials confirmed on Friday that figure remains unchanged.

There has been much speculation in recent weeks about the total cost – and where the money would come from for the project which has been beset by delays for a decade. DUP MP Jim Shannon suggested the figure could be as much as £220m.

A spokesperson for the department said: “The redevelopment of Casement Park is an executive commitment under the Regional Stadia Programme.

"The executive has allocated £62.5m towards the project. The Department for Communities has spent £11.9m to date on the Casement Park project”.