Leaders on both sides of the border urge completion of Casement Park

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4 hours ago

Leaders on both sides of the border have urged all partners to 'find a way' to complete Casement Park.
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill said that it is now time for all those involved to sit around the table and find a way to start and complete the project.
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Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the opportunity to build the stadium should 'be seized', while Tánaiste Simon Harris warned against looking back to see that the moment was 'squandered'.
Earlier this month, a UK government pledge of £50 million for the development of the west Belfast GAA stadium was included in chancellor Rachel Reeves' spending review.
However, that pledge still leaves the project far from its funding target under current plans.
Plans for a 34,000-capacity stadium at the site have been mired in uncertainty because of a major funding gap.
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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 cost spiralled in the interim.
Speaking at a meeting of the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in Armagh, Ms O'Neill said it is time for all partners to 'find a way to complete' Casement Park.
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Ms O'Neill said: 'We all have a role in making sure we get to that point.'
Asked if the GAA should reconsider the plans for the west Belfast stadium development based on existing commitments for funding, Ms O'Neill said the stadium is now more expensive than if it had been built 'a long time ago'.
She said the delays were due to a 'whole plague of problems' including planning and political issues.
She said the redevelopment would bring 'major social and economic benefits'.
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Ms O'Neill added that Casement Park is an Executive flagship project.
'We now know what the pot of funding that we have on the table, but now it's time for all partners involved to get together and sit around the table and find a way now to complete and start the work on the project and to complete the project,' she added.
'I think we all have a role to play in terms of making sure we get to that point.
'But I think it's now time that we now know and understand the quantum of funding, that we now sit down together and actually work out the next step.'
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Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said it is 'now over to the GAA' to set out their expectations on their own contribution to the west Belfast stadium and any potential revisions to the development.
She said there was a 'significant amount of need' in other sporting areas across the region with other facilities also needing to be upgraded.
She added: 'We need to do so with fairness and equity.
'They are sitting on, I think, approximately £161 or £162 million worth of public spending.
'It's now over to the GAA to decide can they cut their coat according to their cloth, or what their expectations are in relation to their own contribution.'
She added that the GAA can 'do a huge amount' with existing funding commitments for Casement Park, and that the GAA should indicate what its contribution increase should be.
Mr Martin said the Irish Government had given a 'very substantial' allocation to the project.
'I believe the prospect really exists for a stadium to be agreed and built and this is an opportunity that should be seized in a practical and realistic way.'
Mr Harris said the recent UK funding announcement was a 'huge step forward' for the project.
He said the Irish Government stands ready to assist the project and warned against looking back to see that the moment was 'squandered'.