Casement Park: No agreement on £33m funding gap says Stormont

STORMONT has still not agreed how to plug a £33 million funding gap plaguing the Casement Park stadium project.

Discussions are "ongoing" between ministers and the GAA to agree the proportions each will pay in a revised budget, and a new business case has not yet been signed off.

A planning application for the west Belfast sports ground is also still being assessed by officials.

Last week the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said planners expect to make a recommendation to their minister this summer.

It has been 11 years since the GAA first announced it wanted to build a major new stadium, but the troubled project has faced numerous setbacks.

Following a legal challenge, revised plans were submitted in 2017 with a reduced spectator capacity of around 34,000.

The original budget was about £77m, with Stormont pledging around £62m and the GAA providing £15m.

But last year it emerged the projected cost of the new stadium has risen to £110m.

GAA chiefs want more public money to plug the shortfall, with one senior official saying they are "not looking to increase" their original financial commitment.

The Department for Communities (DfC), headed by Sinn Féin minister Deirdre Hargey, is in charge of the regional stadia programme.

DfC confirmed the minister has not yet given approval for the expenditure within a revised business case which was "the subject of ongoing discussions".

"The department is currently reviewing the draft business case in line with departmental and inter departmental processes," a spokeswoman said.

"As partners in the Casement Park stadium delivery, DfC and GAA have not yet agreed the details on how the proportions of a potential revised project budget would be allocated."

The business case "remains in draft until outstanding issues such as planning are finalised".

Asked why, given that funding was previously agreed prior to planning approval, DfC said: "The original business case pertains to the original planning application."

Last week Sinn Féin MP Paul Maskey called on the infrastructure minister, the SDLP's Nichola Mallon, to make a decision on planning permission.

In response, her department said Ms Mallon has "stressed the need for progression of this long-awaited application".