Casement Park in Spending Review: Will UK government announce funding?

BBC News

4 days ago

The government will announce later on Wednesday whether it will make a financial contribution towards the redevelopment of Casement Park.Rebuilding the west Belfast stadium is estimated to cost about £260m - of which £120m in funding is jointly in place from the Stormont Executive, the Irish government and the GAA.Pressure has been building on the government to make a decision, which is now anticipated as part of the Spending Review.The review will allocate money to day-to-day public services for the next three years.
It will also set infrastructure budgets for the next four years.The review will directly affect what Stormont ministers have to spend on public services in Northern Ireland.Ministers are also expected to find out if they have succeeded in persuading the Treasury that Stormont's finances require a more generous "needs-based" top-up.
Last week, Finance Minister John O'Dowd said he believed the Treasury was in "solution-finding mode" when it came to reaching agreement on funding for Casement Park. Days later, a senior figure in the GAA said the association was "cautiously optimistic" that an announcement on funding was coming this week.The Stormont executive is contributing £62.5m to the project, the GAA will pay £15m, while the Irish government has pledged about £43m.The GAA has acknowledged it will need to increase its commitment."We are prepared to step up. It would be premature to start mentioning figures here. I think it will be higher than £15m", said Stephen McGeehan, the project lead for the stadium redevelopment.Casement Park, with a proposed 34,500 capacity, had been earmarked to host football games at the Euro 2028 football tournament but, with the project on hold, the plan was shelved.
Stormont's Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has defended his handling of the planned Casement redevelopment and insisted the hold-up is not his fault.He has said the GAA will need to make its plans for the stadium more affordable if the government fails to cover the gap for the current proposed rebuild."What we do need to make sure is that any additional public funding that comes forward for sport is done on a fair and equitable basis," he said.
Could Stormont get a bigger top-up?
When devolution was restored in 2024, Stormont ministers persuaded the Treasury that Northern Ireland's public services were being funded below an objective level of need.As a result any additional funding Stormont gets from Westminster now comes with a top-up - an additional 24p for every pound.That will be worth more than £800m over five years, the independent Fiscal Council has estimated.The Treasury also left the door open for a bigger top-up if there was credible, independent evidence to support it.Stormont ministers believe they have provided that evidence in the form of an analysis by the devolution finance expert Prof Gerry Holtham.The Treasury's response to that will come as Chancellor Rachel Reeves lays out the government's Spending Review in the Commons on Wednesday afternoon.