Safety expert settles Casement Park case

A safety expert who said he was bullied after raising concerns about emergency exit arrangements at Casement Park has settled an industrial tribunal case with Sport NI.

Last year, Paul Scott told a Stormont committee he had concerns about the speed of any evacuation from the planned new GAA stadium in west Belfast.

He told Stormont’s culture, arts and leisure committee that design flaws in the existing plans for the 38,000-capacity arena could lead to a Hillsborough-style disaster. Mr Scott alleged his concerns were ignored and that he was being “bullied” into dropping his objections.

The then sports minister Caral Ni Chuilin told the committee she was unaware of Mr Scott’s concerns before he gave evidence to MLAs, and said she had commissioned a departmental review of the project following the allegations. The GAA denied any wrongdoing and stressed that the organisation has an “impeccable safety record”.

An industrial tribunal hearing listed for yesterday was withdrawn at the 11th hour.

A spokesman for the industrial tribunal office said: “The case is adjourned pending implementation of the settlement.”

Sport NI declined to comment.