Irish League clubs have lost out on over £15 million-worth of government funding because Stormont has sat on it for 13 years

Alan Chambers, a UUP MLA who has been following the issue closely, said that some within the Irish League have got their hopes up that the untouched and now-devalued pot of £36.2m could be upgraded to as much as £100m.

An announcement on the issue is due in the next few days (and may in fact come on Wednesday), but Mr Chambers says that this higher sum is likely just an “unachievable expectation”.

The story has its roots back in 2011 when the Northern Irish government announced it would give £61.4m to the IFA for stadium re-building.

£25.2m went on revamping Windsor Park, with about £36.2m left for other clubs.

This cash is called the “subregional stadia grant”. But it has never been doled out.

In the Assembly on Monday, Alan Chambers asked communities minister Gordon Lyons (DUP) when the money will be available.

“I plan to make an announcement in the coming days,” Mr Lyons replied.

Mr Lyons went on to add: “The £36.2 million is not enough, but it is a start. We have been waiting for too long and for too many years to get that money out.”

If the whole £36.2m had been spent when it was first announced back in 2011, it would have been worth vastly more.

The Bank of England has an online ‘inflation calculator’ which lets the public track how the value of a sum of money has changed over time.

When the News Letter inputted the figure of £36.2m and the relevant year, 2011, the calculator said that the same amount of money today would be worth about £51.6m.

In other words, inflation has wiped about £15.4m (about 30%) off its value over the last 13 years.

Whether Stormont subsequently makes this up remains to be seen.

But Mr Chambers thinks this difference in value could be even more unfavourable if the change in the costs of building materials specifically were taken into account.

"I’ve been very cynical about this process all along,” he told the News Letter.

The Department for Communities was asked if there are any plans to adjust the £36.2m figure promised in 2011 for inflation. It did not respond.

It was also asked if this week’s expected announcement will also give details on Casement Park’s future funding, but this likewise met with no response.

The issue of rebuilding Casement is linked to the subregional stadia funding.

Back in 2011 when the funding was promised to Irish League clubs, an identical £61.4m sum was also earmarked for revamping the crumbling and almost-entirely terraced Casement Park, taking it from 32,000 capacity to a 40,000 all-seater.

But this development has never happened, largely because the £61.4m would not cover the re-build, and the GAA is refusing to stump up the rest. So far it has committed only £15m to a potential total cost of £200m-plus.