Funding to redevelop Euro 2028 venue Casement Park ‘assured by the government’

The five-nation UK and Ireland bid was formally approved by UEFA on Tuesday, with the currently derelict site in Northern Ireland one of 10 venues included in the bid document submitted in April.

Plans by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) to redevelop the west Belfast site into a 34,000-capacity venue have been mired in controversy and hit by delays.

The project has been affected by a series of legal challenges and is further complicated by the lack of a functioning Executive at Stormont.

However, Patrick Nelson, the chief executive of the Irish Football Association, spoke positively when asked for an update on Tuesday.

“There’s a project plan in place, the planning permission has been granted for Casement, they have a full project plan for it, it’s a GAA project,” he said.

“We’ve been working with our partners at GAA but also with the government (in the UK and Ireland) and we’re assured by the government that the funding will be made available for it.

“The governments have fully supported the bid right from the beginning.”

An original projected price tag from almost a decade ago of £77.5million is now believed to have spiralled well above £100 million.

The GAA is part-funding the project but has yet to reach an agreement with Stormont on how to cover a multimillion-pound shortfall.

Unionists have expressed concern about further public money being committed to the project.

Last week, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Irish Government would be prepared to foot some of the bill.

SDLP MLA Justin McNulty said on Tuesday that the focus must now turn to getting Casement Park built and how the project will be financed.

“The Secretary of State (Chris Heaton-Harris) has said the British Government will find the money for the redevelopment of the stadium and the Irish Government have offered to help finance the project,” McNulty said.

“The political will is there and we need to get everyone around a table to hammer out the details so that work can commence at Casement without delay.”

Nelson added: “(Hosting Euro 2028) will enable us to show everybody what a fantastic place Belfast is and what a brilliant country Northern Ireland is.

“So for the kids that are growing up now, it’s going to be on their doorstep. And to talk about somebody from another generation, I think George Best will be looking down today and probably smiling on all of us.”