It has taken more than a decade but yesterday morning saw workers in hi-vis jackets enter Casement Park to begin the construction of the long awaited stadium in Belfast.

Speaking at a Sport for Business event in the city last September the CEO’s of the Irish FA and Ulster GAA were confident that this would happen before the end of February and so it has proven to be.

The revival of the Stormont Assembly has likely given it the final nudge it needed and the likelihood of the venue staging games in Euro 28 has tipped once more into the positive.

Although funding for the project has yet to be finalised, steps are being taken to try to ensure construction can begin immediately, once the money is secured.

The GAA has already committed finance to the project and there are solid promises from both the Irish and British Governments.

An original budget of £77 million was agreed as part of the three way development of better sporting facilities in Belfast. The National Stadium at Windsor Park and Kingspan Stadium, the home of Windsor Park were completed with capacities of 18,000.

Casement Park is planned to be almost twice that size, bringing it in not only as the long term home of Ulster GAA but also with the capacity to stage matches as part of the world’s second biggest football tournament in just over four years time.

UEFA has laid down a strict timetable on the commencement this summer and conclusion of the works by the summer of 2027 but having feet on the ground makes that more feasible.

There has been negative sentiment towards the development by a cohort of Northern Ireland fans but the reality is that with time passing and the prospect of a once in a generation opportunity to see their team on the biggest of stages less than 2 kilometres from their ‘spiritual’ home, this will be overtaken.

 

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