IFA's Euro 2028 strategy in tatters - as it goes off to consult 'partners' over Casement Park fiasco

It comes as the DUP says Northern Ireland football fans are “disappointed at the strategic decisions” football chiefs have made – and have accused the IFA of “placing all their eggs in the Casement basket”.

The government confirmed on Friday night that it will not fund the redevelopment of the derelict GAA stadium in time for the Euro 2028 tournament due to “a significant risk that it would not be built in time”.

Northern Ireland is now set to be the only nation in the British Isles not hosting a game during the tournament.

Baroness Hoey has said there are important questions for the IFA about why they supported the “whole sorry saga” and has called on the organisation to “have an in depth review of just how they ended up supporting Casement Park as a venue for Euro 28”.

DUP sports spokesman Stephen Dunne MLA said the IFA “has questions to answer over how the bid was progressed. Placing all their eggs in the Casement basket was a mistake and they don’t seem to have any serious work completed on a Plan B. “Many grassroots Northern Ireland supporters are disappointed at the strategic decisions made by the IFA and are now seeking answers about how the IFA will secure a Euro 2028 legacy for Northern Ireland football”. Secretary of State Hilary Benn and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy announced the decision in a joint letter to Stormont communities minister Gordon Lyons.

The Casement Park rebuild was beset with difficulties long before the Euro 2028 bid – which sought additional funding and cross-community support – was backed by the IFA. The body struggled to sell its vision to fans, with regular and vocal protests against the plans at Northern Ireland matches.

Northern Ireland’s three main sports – football, rugby and GAA – were all allocated Stormont funding a decade ago to improve their stadia. The GAA was promised £62.5m from the executive as its share of the monies.

The GAA itself only put forward £15m despite spiralling costs – with around £43m promised by the Irish government in a bid to secure its readiness for the Euros.

The timeframe to get the ground ready for European football matches was always tight – and it would have needed to have been finished by summer 2027 for test events.

Previous attempts to complete the west Belfast project had been beset by delays over residents protests, planning issues and a subsequent redesign – not to mention spiralling costs.

Despite all this – and opposition from significant swathes of its own support – Northern Ireland football’s governing body appear to have put all their eggs in the Casement basket .

There does not appear to have ever been a Plan B in the (quite likely) event that Casement wouldn’t be built in time.

Now, the IFA says it is considering “the implications” of the end of the Casement Euros project “with our bid partners and UEFA”.

Baroness Hoey told the News Letter: “I understand from many within the IFA that the project was originally pushed through without any detailed involvement of the Board or their Council which has representatives from throughout all levels of football in Northern Ireland.

“I find it astonishing that at no time a Plan B was formulated as the risks of Casement not being built in time even if the money had been found was apparent to so many”.

The former Labour minister said “no thought was given to the fact that this vanity project was not going to help upgrade Irish League grounds like Cliftonville and Larne as well as nothing to build a much needed football centre of excellence”. She added: “If only they has listened to the much respected Jim Boyce, a former President of the IFA and FIFA Board member, who argued that if Windsor couldn’t be expanded then the IFA should ask for the draw and the Congress to be held in NI as well as pre tournament matches and funding for grassroots football. “Dedicated Northern Ireland supporters will be angry at a missed opportunity to use the Euros for the long term good of football and not just five matches with the stadium handed back to the GAA to use exclusively for that sport.

“The GAA deserve their stadium but do not deserve any more money than originally allocated plus inflation.”

Baroness Hoey wrote to the IFA at the start of August amid growing concerns that Northern Ireland would miss out on the tournament as the troubled Casement Park project looked increasingly doomed.

There were growing doubts about claims by the last government that the money would be found to build the GAA stadium to the specifications needed for a Euros tournament, doubts which have been proven to be well-founded.

In the letter, the crossbench peer urged the IFA to “have a Plan B in place in case the opportunity to host the Euros as originally planned at a rebuilt Casement falls through”.

“Living full time in NI as I do now I meet many fans of ‘our wee country’ and I am very conscious that it is the dedicated long term supporting fan who have their doubts about how sensible hosting the Euros at Casement are. It is the non NI supporter and indeed those who don’t necessarily like football but enjoy big supporting occasions that are most supportive of Casement”, she said.

She urged football chiefs to use their leverage, while it was still possible, “to give serious consideration to arguing for an outcome where Casement Park is built to GAA requirement, but that at least some of the differential funds required to make the stadium UEFA compliant are instead put to use as a legacy for football in Northern Ireland”.

The letter concluded: “Time is running out and I am urging some pro active work on Plan B”.

In June, at the IFA’s AGM, Chief Executive Patrick Nelson said one of the highlights of 2023 was the successful UK & Ireland Bid to host UEFA Euro 2028.

He said he hoped staging the tournament on these shores would “bring long-term benefits to all five countries involved”.