‘From a GAA point of view in Belfast, we need Casement Park,’ insists Antrim stalwart McManus

ANTRIM star Neil McManus says GAA in Belfast is in desperate need of a new Casement Park, insisting the decision to close the venue down has had a “detrimental effect” on the association in the county.

The HQ of the GAA in Belfast has fallen into ruin since it was closed in 2013 as political rows and planning issues delayed its renovation.

“Not even from a playing point of view but from a GAA point of view in Belfast, we need Casement Park, we really, really need it,” said Cushendall man McManus (pictured) whose side take on Galway’s St Thomas’ in Saturday’s All-Ireland club SHC semi-final.

“It was a central hub… now there’s a plan started called Gaelfast in the north to try and regenerate Belfast as a GAA city but it’s fallen away in the past probably 20 years. And Casement’s been closed for the past five or six years now and that’s had a detrimental effect; all the Cumann na mBunscol games were held in Casement Park for the simple reason so as the kids could go in, see Casement Park, understand that this is where you could be playing if you do well. It was a draw.

Special

“Personally, I had a really special connection with Casement Park because my father brought me along with my brother to all the games in Casement. Ulster finals used to be big days with 10,000 and 12,000 at them and any time Antrim were playing a big game in Casement Park in the National League against a Kilkenny, a Cork, a Galway, those were brilliant days and you grew up then wanting to be on that field yourself.

“For the first five years of my working life, every Friday I finished work and I went to Casement, hit frees and then bounced into the Andersonstown Leisure Centre for a bit. There’s probably a group of Antrim hurlers who are there now and their generation is going through their Antrim career without any affinity to West Belfast.

“They haven’t got any grá for it. West Belfast is a class wee place, Andersonstown and it’s turning into a Gaeltacht quarter as well now and they have no interaction there because they’re never there.”

Photos that emerged last year brought into sharp focus the sorry state the ground has fallen into. McManus insists the stadium should never have been closed until the builders were ready to move in.

“That decision to shut down the ground has cost Antrim GAA millions of pounds and cost us the use of Casement Park.”

And he believes the project has become a political football with the ongoing impasse in Stormont.

“Stormont has a bit to do with it. Obviously without ministers in place to take certain decisions, the civil servants, the head civil servants were being asked to look at these decisions but Casement Park is not only a sporting decision but could be looked at as quite a political decision if you like as well because of the community that it’s going to serve and the civil servants don’t want to touch it or are reluctant to which is quite frustrating from my point of view because we need the ball rolling on it.

“I’ve been told that we’re going to get good news on it this year and it is going to happen because there is no other show in town.”