Gordon Lyons clear 'one of two things' needs to happen for Casement Park progress with funding gap 'very, very large'
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons says the funding gap required to deliver on Casement Park’s redevelopment plan remains “very, very large” – and insists “one of two things” now needs to happen for progression.
The Belfast venue had been selected to host matches at the 2028 European Championships, but rising construction costs – estimated to be in the region of £300-400million – put an end to that possibility.
In order to stage games at the major tournament, stadiums are required to have a capacity of over 30,000 – Windsor Park holds 18,500.
There have been plans to redevelop Casement Park since 2011 with the Executive pledging £61million towards the project at the time while the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) were to contribute £15million.
While the Irish Government has since promised £43million and the UK Government offered up another £50million last year, there still remains a significant financial shortfall.
Lyons, who was speaking at the Northern Ireland Football League’s (NIFL) ‘More Than The Game’ event at Stormont, insists he remains committed to delivering on the original £61million.
He has now outlined what will be required in order to move forward, calling on the GAA to either deliver more money or scale back plans.
"As I've said before, there was an agreement in 2011, that agreement stands, the money that was pledged at that time stands, it's ready to be drawn down,” he said. “There have been additional pots of funding that have been brought together now, that is still short on what will be needed for Casement Park in its current iteration.
"So we need to see one of two things happen, or a combination of the two: we either need to see increased funding from the GAA, or we need to see a reduction in the size and scale of the project.
"If we can do one or either of those things, that allows a way forward to be found. But at the minute that gap is very, very large...our commitment from 2011 still stands.”
When asked if he’s speaking to the GAA about narrowing that gap, Lyons added: “Engagement goes on with officials and I'm happy to meet with the GAA to discuss further as well.”