Casement Park 'deserves the same support' as football and rugby stadiums – Long

Alliance leader Naomi Long said the new stadium at Casement Park “needs to be built” and “should be supported like any other stadium”.

Mr Long spoke amid uncertainty surrounding the project after reports the west Belfast site could cost more than £300m to develop, with the UK government concerned about filling funding gaps. He said he was holding her.

The GAA stadium is one of the venues chosen to host matches in the Euro 2028 football tournament, co-hosted by Britain and Ireland, and UEFA officials visited the derelict site last week.

It will reportedly be built to accommodate 30,000 spectators at the opening, with plans to increase to 34,500 after the Euros.

Long said she was very concerned about the project.

“I believe it needs to be built. I think there is often a whiff of sectarianism among those who oppose this,” she told BBC's Sunday Politics Northern Ireland. He spoke on the program.

She said she had hoped a national stadium, capable of accommodating football, rugby and GAA, would be built on the site of Maze Prison.

After those plans fell through in 2009, football ended up building a national stadium at Windsor Park, while rugby decided to redevelop its Ravenhill ground.

However, the redevelopment of Casement has been delayed by a series of planning disputes and legal challenges, with the original cost estimate of £77.5 million rising to the latest estimated cost of £308 million.

The Irish government has pledged €50m (£42.7m) for the stadium, with the GAA pledging to provide £15m.

The UK government faces calls to make up the shortfall to rebuild on time.

Long said officials can't bid something in 2010 and expect it to get the same price in 2024.

“If we want these things to happen, we need to do them in a timely manner and we need to do them on budget,” she said.

“The truth is, we don’t know how much Casement is going to cost, but that’s what worries us.

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“We have to do our due diligence, we have to deliver on time, we have to deliver on budget, and that applies to Casement as it does to any other project. There is no reason why it should be less than the stadium.”

Last week, Stormont Treasurer Caoimhe Archibald said the redevelopment of Casement Park was a flagship project and the authority should deliver it.

“We need to see what the UK government is willing to put on the table on this, because they have promised as part of the euro that they are ready to do that,” she said.

“Infrastructure projects have seen significant inflationary increases in delivery costs. So it's not a big surprise that costs have increased.”

A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Office said: 'The Northern Ireland Department of Communities is responsible for the redevelopment of Casement Park.

“The UK Government will seek updated cost confirmation for the Casement Park project from the Department for Communities before undertaking a detailed review of the allocation of taxpayer funds, particularly given the wider public sector funding challenges. You need to receive it.”