Casement £40M overspend

A TOP GAA official has warned that the final cost for the redevelopment of Casement Park could rise to £110 million. The initial cost of redeveloping the Belfast venue was set at £77M, which means the latest estimate represents a whopping 46 per cent overspend. Tom Daly, chairman of the Casement Park Project Board, put the spiralling cost down to the delay in securing planning clearance for the project. ‘The planning application for the redevelopment of Casement Park was submitted in February 2017, yet over two years later the length of time it is taking for some statutory bodies to respond to the planning authority is a cause of frustration within our project team and across the wider GAA community,’ said Daly yesterday. The news of the increasing outlay at the Belfast venue comes in the aftermath of an estimated €25 million overspend by the GAA on the redevelopment of Páirc Uí Chaoimh. With attendances limited to 11,000 at Walsh Park for Waterford’s two Munster SHC matches this summer, tickets will only be made available via the participating county boards and clubs and won’t go on sale to the general public. Waterford are set to host Clare (May 12) and Limerick (June 2). MUNSTER SHC FIXTURES: Sunday, May 12 Waterford v Clare, Walsh Park, 2pm; Cork v Tipperary, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 4pm; Sunday, May 19 - Tipperary v Waterford, Thurles, 2pm; Limerick v Cork, Gaelic Grounds, 4pm; Sunday, June 2 Waterford v Limerick, Walsh Park, 2pm; Clare v Tipperary, Ennis, 4pm; Saturday, June 8 - Cork v Waterford, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 7pm; Sunday, June 8 - Limerick v Clare, Gaelic Grounds, 4pm; Sunday, June 16 - Clare v Cork, Ennis, 2pm; Tipperary v Limerick, Thurles, 2pm. CORK (SH v Tipperary) - A Nash; D Browne, D Cahalane, S McDonnell; C Joyce, T O’Mahony, E Cadogan; C Murphy, B Cooper; C Lehane, S Harnedy, D Dooley; A Cadogan, A Walsh, P Horgan. TIPPERARY (SH v Cork) - Paul Maher; C Barrett, J Barry, R Maher; J O’Dwyer, Pádraic Maher, R Byrne; N McGrath, M Breen; J Morris, N O’Meara, J Forde; J O’Dwyer, S Callanan, J McGrath. KILKENNY (SH v Wexford) – E Murphy; P Murphy, C Delaney, T Walsh; C Fogarty, P Deegan, J Cleere; P Walsh, A Murphy; J Donnelly, W Walsh, G Malone; B Tyan, L Blanchfield, M Keoghan.