GAA President-elect Jarlath Burns has said that the association should not be expected to up their financial contribution to the Casement Park project despite rising costs.
The original investment back in 2013, with the Northern Ireland executive committing £62m, was £77m with the money being provided as part of a wider package of stadium development covering soccer's Windsor Park and rugby's Ravenhill. The GAA also agreed to a £15m investment in the Belfast venue.
Both the soccer and rugby venues were completed years ago but a series of issues have delayed the Casement project with the cost of construction now expected to be substantially over £100m.
Last year a legal challenge against a decision to grant planning approval for the redevelopment was dismissed and Ulster GAA are now hopeful of having games played there in late 2025 with the venue also included in an initial list of potential grounds for a joint Irish and UK bid for EURO 2028.
Despite the spiralling costs as they chase that 2025 target, Burns was adamant that the GAA's contribution must remain the same and pointed out that other inter-county stadiums also required financial assistance.
"Definitely not, I would not be in favour of us giving one more penny to that," was his response when asked did the GAA need to dig deeper.
"If you look all around the country, there are so many major infrastructural projects that have to go ahead.
"Right down the east coast you have Kildare, you have Páirc Tailteann, you have St Brigid’s in Louth.
"You have Waterford, you have Killarney, Thurles needs a lot of money spent on it, even Croke Park needs upgraded. There are so many grounds that need a lot of work done."
Burns said that the relevant GAA parties have acted in good faith ever since the Maze project – a proposed ground share between the GAA, Ulster Rugby and the IFA – was first mooted in 2005 before being scrapped four years later, and that government funding should reflect that.
"If you look at the history of Casement Park, that began as a project that was going to be a stadium for all. GAA was the last man standing in that process. We were happy to remain right at the end and keep Casement as the Antrim county ground.
"Whenever the other sports pulled out we were left and we were told that we would get a regional stadium.
"It’s not unreasonable that Belfast, Ireland’s second city, should have a stadium that would match Páirc Uí Chaoimh, which is our other second city.
"It’s not our fault that all of this delay has happened to do with planning and other issues beyond our control.
"Obviously with the executive being out of action for many of those years, we have kept our side of the bargain which was that we would give that £15m.
"But the stadium has to be built and I think it’s incumbent, considering the leadership that the GAA gives in society, what we do for promotion health and mental health and all the things we do, it’s incumbent on the government to come up with the money."
Jarlath Burns is representing Armagh in the Ulster GAA skydive on 12 March alongside the likes of Down's Benny Coulter, Monaghan’s Dessie Mone and Antrim’s Jane Adams to raise money for both the Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Reasearch at Queen’s University Belfast and the Ambulance NI service. More information here.
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