GAA has 'little scope' for increasing its contribution to Casement Park rebuild

The GAA says it won’t be able to significantly increase its contribution to the redevelopment of a West Belfast GAA stadium, as a DUP MP says the cost of the project could now be over £220m.
By David Thompson
Published 21st Feb 2024, 09:53 BST
Updated 21st Feb 2024, 09:58 BST
Casement Park is one of the 10 venues which form part of the UK and Republic of Ireland's joint bid to host the Euro 2028 finals. The proposed Casement Park stadium which would have a capacity of 34,500 - and has been beset by delays. The GAA has said it has no additional money to add to the project despite spiralling costs. Pic Colm Lenaghan/PacemakerCasement Park is one of the 10 venues which form part of the UK and Republic of Ireland's joint bid to host the Euro 2028 finals. The proposed Casement Park stadium which would have a capacity of 34,500 - and has been beset by delays. The GAA has said it has no additional money to add to the project despite spiralling costs. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker
Casement Park is one of the 10 venues which form part of the UK and Republic of Ireland's joint bid to host the Euro 2028 finals. The proposed Casement Park stadium which would have a capacity of 34,500 - and has been beset by delays. The GAA has said it has no additional money to add to the project despite spiralling costs. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker

The Chief Executive of Ulster GAA Brian McAvoy has told BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme that the organisation would have little scope for going beyond its proposed contribution of 15 million pounds.

He said: "There is a limit to what we can do and that's why we've gone to the Irish government - we would have little scope for moving beyond that but I think we did well here".

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"We'll see what comes of the overall terms of the overall funding rounds because obviously the ball is very much in the court of the UK government and the executive, that's really where the ball lies now", he said.

The dispute over building the stadium has rumbled on for ten years. Back then the cost was estimated at around £77.5m.

Yesterday, the Irish government offered around £42m for the project – which faces a tight deadline if it is to be ready for the Euro 2028 tournament where it could host the Northern Ireland team as the Windsor Park redevelopment didn’t bring it up to the seating capacity for major tournaments.

The GAA also told the BBC today that the ground wouldn’t now be ready for the 2027 Ulster GAA final.

Related topics:Casement ParkDUPBBCUlster

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