Government will not fund Casement for Euro 2028

The chances of Northern Ireland hosting matches at the Euro 2028 football tournament appear to have gone.

The UK government announced on Friday night that the estimated cost of rebuilding Casement Park stadium in Belfast has "risen dramatically" to more than £400m.

The government said it will not be providing funding to redevelop the stadium in time for the tournament, adding that there was a "significant risk" it would not be built in time.

Ulster GAA called the announcement “bitterly disappointing,” adding that it would provide a more detailed response in the coming days.

A spokesperson for the Irish FA said it will "consider the implications of this with our bid partners and UEFA".

The announcement was made in a joint letter from NI Secretary Hilary Benn and Sports Minister Lisa Nandy to Stormont Communities Minister Gordon Lyons.

In the letter, Benn and Nandy said: "The estimated build costs have risen dramatically - from £180m when the EURO 2028 bid was awarded in October 2023 to potentially over £400m - and there is a significant risk that it would not be built in time for the tournament.

"We have therefore, regrettably, decided that it is not appropriate for the UK government to provide funding to seek to build Casement Park in time to host matches at EURO 2028."

Lyons said his department remains "committed to the 2011 agreement with the GAA for a GAA stadium".

He added that he will work with the UK government and other stakeholders to "ensure that there is a lasting legacy for football in Northern Ireland".

In order to be ready for the 2028 tournament, Casement Park needs to be rebuilt by the summer of 2027.

Northern Ireland could have a role as a training base or host warm-up matches at the existing Windsor Park stadium, but hosting tournament fixtures appears to be over.

Tourism NI chief executive John McGrillen said it's "very, very disappointing news".

"We would have estimated that we would probably have seen somewhere in the range of £100m plus being pumped into the local economy as a result of the four games that were due to be held," he said.

"That’s not an insignificant loss," he added.

Mr McGrillen also pointed out that hosting the Euros gives countries a "profile" and said it was "unfortunate that Belfast is not going to have that opportunity".

Plans have been in place to build a new stadium at Casement Park since 2011.

The initial estimated cost of rebuilding Casement was £77.5m, with £62.5m coming from the Stormont executive and £15m from the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).

Since then costs have risen dramatically and trying to cater for soccer as well as GAA matches increased the cost further, as UEFA requires a higher specification of stadium.

But the latest news does not mean the stadium cannot be rebuilt for the GAA, which was the original purpose.

However, the GAA will be hoping that even though the UK government has said it will not be funding a Euro 2028-compliant stadium, it may still contribute to the redevelopment whenever it happens.

The Irish government has already pledged more than £40m.

Economy Minister Conor Murphy said it was “hugely disappointing and frustrating”.

He said “decisions could have been taken earlier” to ensure the games went ahead.

When asked should the GAA pay more towards Casement, he said: “We have to figure out what kind of stadium is now being built".

"We’re in a different set of circumstances on the back of the decision that the British government have taken... so we have to get everybody back round the table," he added.

The minister said he was reassured that Casement Park is a flagship project for the executive and it “will be built”, but said it's "embarrassing" that it won't be in time for 2028.

Benn and Nandy's letter said the government had "always been committed to ensuring that Northern Ireland could host the Euros if there was any way to achieve that."

It added the decision was made after "swiftly but fully" analysing if Casement Park could be "successfully completed" to the UEFA timelines and with their "minimum requirements".

The letter added the stadium might not be completed in time due to "almost no progress" having been made in the period between the Euro game being awarded to Belfast and the election of the new government.

"This has been a very difficult decision to make, given our belief in the Euro 2028 partnership, but it is the only way forward in the circumstances," the letter added.

Negotiations on funding for Casement Park had long been in extra time, but the government has blown the final whistle on Euro 2028 happening in Belfast.

It was, of course, the Conservatives who passed this particular political football to Labour when they won the general election some two months ago.

However, the now-infamous quote that we’ll hear again in the days to come was then secretary of state Chris Heaton-Harris saying in 2023: “Don’t you worry, we’ll get the money”.

From that moment on, an expectation was set, but for months there had been a growing sense that the money would not be coming.

The Labour government in its latest letter—pushed out on a Friday night after evening news programmes had ended (which will prompt its own questions)—makes clear the cost now is too big and the timetable too short.

Both the redevelopment's biggest cheerleaders and those in unionism who less willingly backed the project, can now point the finger of blame at Number 10 for Northern Ireland missing out on hosting part of the tournament.

Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O’Neill said the announcement is “deeply disappointing” and represented a “missed opportunity for sport and our economy”.

“Casement Park will be built,” she said. “It’s an Executive commitment, and something that both the British and Irish governments have committed to,” she said.

“We will continue to work with the GAA, our local executive and the two governments to push this project forward and get these state-of-the-art facilities built and a first-class stadium for Gaelic games delivered."

The SDLP west Belfast councillor, Paul Doherty, said the government's decision not to provide funding in time for the Euros was a "massive, wasted opportunity".

"This is an incredibly short-sighted move and the way it has been handled is very disappointing given the potential to host one of the biggest sports tournaments in the world in the north," he said.

Doherty also said there is "outrage locally" in the area and said hosting the Euros would have brought money into Northern Ireland.

"Building a modern stadium in our city would have paid for itself many times over."

However, North Antrim MP Jim Allister said: "Refusing to squander £400m on Casement is the right decision.

"From a government which has raided pensioners’ winter fuel fund it would have been unconscionable to do otherwise than pull the plug.

"Let’s hope it is fully pulled and there will be no side deals to give preferential funding to the GAA, considering neither rugby or football got central government funding."