GAA needs to consider ‘strategic need’ on its Casement Park plans, says Lyons

The GAA needs to consider its “strategic need” around the redevelopment of Casement Park in the face of the project’s ongoing funding gap, the sports minister has said.

Gordon Lyons said the Executive was also still awaiting clarification from the UK government on the terms of the £50 million financial contribution to the rebuild of the west Belfast Gaelic games venue that was announced in last month’s Spending Review.

The Government has said the money will be offered as an equity stake and will not have to be repaid.

Plans for a £270 million, 34,000-capacity stadium have been mired in uncertainty because of a major funding shortfall.

The £50 million provided by the Government has not bridged that gap, which remains at an estimated £100 million if the redevelopment was to proceed as currently envisaged by the GAA.

Stormont ministers committed £62.5 million to Casement in 2011, as part of a strategy to revamp it along with football’s Windsor Park and the rugby ground at Ravenhill.

While the two other Belfast-based projects went ahead, the redevelopment of Casement was delayed for several years because of legal challenges by local residents.

The estimated build cost spiralled in the interim. While planning permission has since been secured, the money committed to the rebuild is not currently enough to deliver it.

As well as the Stormont contribution of £62.5 million and the UK government’s £50 million, the Irish government has offered roughly £42 million and the GAA has pledged to contribute at least £15 million.

Mr Lyons was asked how he intended to progress the project as he faced questions from members of his Assembly scrutiny committee at Stormont on Thursday.

“The first thing that we need, and what we don’t have, is clarity on exactly what this money (from the UK government) is and what this means,” he said.

“I know that discussions are ongoing between DoF (Stormont’s Department of Finance) and the Treasury, but I think it’s fair to say that we don’t have clarity on exactly what that means, what that means in terms of debt, what that means in terms of equity. So that is something that will need to be bottomed out. But other work can go on in the meantime.”

He added: “The Finance minister (John O’Dowd) has requested a meeting with me, which I would like to bottom out some of the issues around exactly what that means, because it’s not simple and it’s not straightforward, and we’ll hear, I’m sure, more of this soon. We need to figure that out.

“Secondly, I think the GAA, and I know they’re taking time to consider this, but I think the GAA need to consider what this means for their plans. I think they need to consider their strategic need and what way they want to take this forward, and if they’re committed to what is still on the table.

“We haven’t had anyone reach out yet in relation to that – in terms of a meeting with me personally – but certainly that engagement can absolutely continue, and let’s get those issues bottomed out.”

The committee was told that engagement between officials in Mr Lyon’s department and the GAA was continuing.