Fly-half Morgan to leave Ulster after one season
Ulster have confirmed that New Zealand-born fly-half Aidan Morgan will leave the club this summer "by mutual consent". Morgan joined Ulster from Super Rugby side Hurricanes on a two-year-old last year following Billy Burns' departure to Munster. The 23-year-old, who previously played for the New Zealand Under-20 team, is qualified to represent Ireland through a Belfast-born grandfather.Morgan made 17 appearances for Ulster, including 12 starts, and scored tries in his first two games. However, Morgan featured mainly from the bench in the closing stages of the season with Jack Murphy - head coach Richie Murphy's son - preferred in the 10 shirt."I want to thank Ulster Rugby fans, the players and staff for the the part they have played in welcoming me in since joining last summer," said Morgan. "I have enjoyed my time here in Belfast with Ulster, learning and growing as a player and a person."Thank you for the great memories and I wish everyone all the best for the future."Ulster general manager Bryn Cunningham described Morgan as the "consummate professional", but said releasing the player from his contract was "in the best interests of both parties". "We thank Aidan for all his efforts over the past season and wish him and his partner all the very best for their next chapter," said Cunningham. "Going into the 2025-26 season, we will have three fully contracted fly-halves (Jack Murphy, Jake Flannery, James Humphreys), between 21 and 26 years of age, all of which we need to continue to develop and get the very best out of in the seasons ahead."
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The Independent
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BBC News
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And it's because of have been plans to build a new stadium at Casement Park since 2011, long before Euro that stadium was to cost about £76m, with £61m coming from Northern Ireland's power-sharing government and £15m from the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).But those plans got bogged down in a morass of legal rows, safety concerns and planning permission was rekindled in October 2023 when Casement Park was included as a host venue as part of the UK and Ireland's successful bid to host Euro 2028. However, Uefa tournament specifications, which would turn the GAA ground into an all-seater stadium suitable for Euro 2028, meant construction estimates spiralled - at least £300m, and possibly more than £400m according to the UK government (an estimate the GAA said was "wildly exaggerated"). 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When it came to Euro 2028 in Northern Ireland, it was Casement or bust. What now for Casement and who's paying for it? Euro 2028 may be gone, but Casement could live as per its original vision - a state-of-the-art ground that could become the home of Antrim GAA and the host for Ulster finals, major events and concerts.A reduction in capacity and no requirement to meet Uefa tournament standards means estimated costs have fallen to about £250m-£ that is still a hefty wedge and the standoff over who will pay has continued, with a little friction at January, minutes emerged of a "fraught and tetchy" meeting between the GAA and the Northern Ireland minister responsible for sport, Gordon GAA has acknowledged it will increase its financial commitment to the project and said it was cautiously optimistic ahead of the UK government's spending review. What is the story behind the Casement Park delay? To answer that question, we have to go back a couple of that time, Northern Ireland's three main stadiums for football, rugby and GAA - Windsor Park, Ravenhill, and Casement - were seen as increasingly not fit for and a new plan was needed. Initially, Northern Ireland's power-sharing government - the Northern Ireland Executive - came up with an idea for a new, multi-purpose national stadium for all sports. But the divisive proposal of situating the stadium at the site of the Maze Prison - which held paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles, Northern Ireland's bloody conflict of 30 years - meant the idea was eventually dashed on the political instead, in 2011, it was decided that cash would go towards stadium redevelopment:Windsor Park, the home of Northern Ireland's international football team and Linfield FC, would get £25m to build a 18,500 all-seater stadium - it reopened in October 2016Ravenhill, the home of Ulster Rugby, was redeveloped and capacity increased to 18,000 at a cost of £16.5m - work finished in May 2014About £36m would be set aside for sub-regional football stadia aka grounds used by local football clubAnd Casement Park would get £61m - the same amount as football in total - for a new 38,000 capacity stadiumWhile Ravenhill and Windsor - or the National Stadium as it is now officially known - are open and hosting big events, Casement Park has only seen a digger or two. Why has the Casement Park redevelopment taken so long? In 2012, stadium designers were appointed to the project and it was expected the new Casement Park would be built by 2015. But it did not turn out that first big obstacle came in 2014, when the High Court overturned planning permission for the residents had lodged a legal challenge over objections to the stadium's size - they said it would block out light from homes and cause serious traffic in 2015, came possibly the most contentious year of the Casement Park it emerged that a Safety Technical Group (STG) formed to oversee safety issues around the new stadium had not approved the design plans due to concerns over how long it would take people to leave the ground in an one of the STG members, safety expert Paul Scott, told a Northern Ireland Assembly committee that he had been put "under pressure" to approve the plans by government also complained of bullying - he later settled an industrial tribunal case with Sport NI. With the original Casement plan now scrapped, the GAA went to work on plans for a new stadium, revising the capacity down from 38,000 to about 34, submitted a fresh application for planning permission in 2017, which was granted in in 2022, local residents lost a legal challenge against the new project against the plan - the stadium could now go ahead. What else do we need to know about Casement Park? Well, as ever, if Casement Park does get extra money from government, you can be sure other sports will be asking why they cannot get the same years there has been frustration among local football fans over stadium money of a different kind - when cash was announced for Casement, Windsor Park and Ravenhill more than a decade ago, £36m was set aside for what were described as sub-regional football football league grounds in Northern Ireland are in dire need of redevelopment. But that fund only opened for applications at the start of this year, after delays caused by years of political instability. No money has been distributed yet. As the original stadium plan put Gaelic games and football on an equal funding basis, it is likely football authorities will be asking questions should the government offer extra cash for issue is also further complicated by how sport and politics intertwine in Northern and the GAA have long had an uneasy, distrustful relationship. One of the GAA's own stated goals - "the strengthening of national identity in a 32-county Ireland through the preservation and promotion of Gaelic games and pastimes" as per the organisation's official guide - puts it and unionism in political Park itself is in predominantly nationalist west Belfast and named after after Sir Roger Casement, an Irish revolutionary who, in 1916, was executed in London for treason. 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3 hours ago
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