Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn declines to put figure on Casement Park funding

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has declined to put a figure on how much the UK Government is willing to contribute to the redevelopment of Casement Park.

It comes after the government announced it will not fund the west Belfast stadium in time for the Euros in 2028, due to “a significant risk that it would not be built in time”.

The secretary of state said the decision had been taken with "deep regret".

"After the news that it is just not possible to build Casement Park for the Euros because however much money we were prepared to put into it there was a real risk the stadium would not be complete on time, I think everyone needs to take stock," Hilary Benn told UTV.

"I will be talking with all of the partners in the next few days to work out where we go from here given that the Euros is unfortunately - and it is a decision we took with deep regret - not possible but frankly in the 18 months previously nothing had been done to advance the project which is why we were left with an impossible situation."

He refused to state how much the government would add.

"We are just going to have to take stock, we know how much is in the pot, the design is going to have to be rethought, so there are lots of questions we can't answer at the moment, but I'm determined to work with other partners to work out how we can take this project forward and honour the long-standing commitment of the Northern Ireland Executive that Casement Park will be built."

He explained the £400million figure for the project build was in the middle of an estimate they have obtained from experts.

Earlier, Taoiseach Simon Harris said the Irish Government “is open” to have conversations about more that can be done to help in relation to Casement Park.

He has said his government remained committed to the 50 million euro (£42 million) pledge to rebuild the sports ground.

When asked whether he was ruling out pledging further funding during a visit to Londonderry on Monday, Mr Harris said he was not ruling it out or in.

“The Irish Government is open to continuing to have conversations about anything more we can do to help, but we’re not quite there yet,” the Taoiseach said.

“What we now need to see is what the British Government and the Northern Ireland Executive wanted to do next.

“We stand ready to assist in any practical way that we can.”

First Minister Michelle O'Neill criticised the UK Government for “burying” the Casement news announcement on a Friday evening, saying it is “not good enough".

She said: “What we need to see is maturity. What we need to see is a constructive relationship. That clearly is not what was borne out on Friday evening."

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said: “The big issues of deliverability, affordability, value for money, of course, those are and have to be considerations in terms of the funding.

“The rumoured amount of over £400 million does seem an extraordinary amount of money at a time of very difficult budget pressures."

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