It’s all talk and no action over new Casement

■ IFA chief Kirkwood admits frustrations due to construction delays ■ President concedes he can’t get a ‘straight answer’ about funding

DESPITE a frustrating year of dither and delay, Irish FA President Conrad Kirkwood remains cautiously optimistic that Casement Park will be built in time to host games at Euro 2028.

But it may be more in hope than expectation.

Northern Ireland football’s head honcho has warned Secretary of State Chris Heaton-harris and Department for Communities Minister Gordon Lyons that the clock is ticking.

With Uefa monitoring the situation, there is still uncertainty over the funding of the stadium, which is expected to cost north of £300million.

The Stormont Executive committed £62.5million to the project in 2011, while the GAA promised to chip in £15million. Even with the Irish Government’s recent contribution of £43million, there’s still a funding black hole of almost £200million.

Heaton-harris previously suggested the British Government would pick up the remaining tab, but he has not yet come forward with the required funding.

Irish FA President Kirkwood told the Belfast Telegraph that he will continue to lobby both the Executive and British Government to ensure the project goes ahead as planned.

It would be a major coup for Northern Ireland to stage five games of the European Championship — one of the biggest sporting events in the world.

Kirkwood said: “We’re waiting to hear more on the funding element from the British Government and from the Department for Communities.

“The Minister Gordon Lyons was a guest at the Irish Cup Final last Saturday, and I was asking him for an update.

“The clock is ticking on Euro 2028. Much of (Irish FA Chief Executive) Patrick Nelson’s time, and my time, is spent talking to the various politicians. We’re continually nudging them along, asking, ‘What’s happening’?”

Kirkwood urged the Governments to take action sooner rather than later to ensure Northern Ireland can play a full role in the tournament that will be jointly hosted by the three other UK nations and the Republic of Ireland.

“We need this to be approved, so we can move the project to the next stage,” he said.

“I’m told there will be an announcement soon, but in Northern Ireland, you’re never quite sure what soon means.

“I remain confident that Casement will be ready in time for Euro 2028.

“But with every passing day, you lose a day on the timescale, and that’s a worry. We’ve made Gordon Lyons very aware of that.

“We’re also working with Chris Heaton-harris. Some time ago, he made it very clear that the funding would be available. I would guess the quantum of that funding would be the deciding factor at this point.”

The Abbey Villa official compared the experience of lobbying for Casement Park to that of buying your first home.

“It’s frustrating. It’s a bit like buying a new house. You’re always waiting on a straight answer from an estate agent or a solicitor.

“It feels a bit like that because you’re doing the round-robin, trying get straight answers from politicians and civil servants.

“It’s frustrating, but the good thing is myself and Patrick are getting access to the people we need to talk to. We’re continuing to ask the questions and put the pressure on.

“Euro 2028 offers all kinds of advantages and opportunities for Northern Ireland, particularly for the economy. It’s a great opportunity for football here.”

If Northern Ireland qualify for the prestigious tournament in four years’ time, it’s anticipated that Michael O’neill’s team will play their three group games at the west Belfast GAA stadium.

While the Irish FA are desperate to make this vision a reality, many Northern Ireland fans do not want to see their team play competitive games at Casement Park.

At recent Northern Ireland internationals, sections of the crowd at Windsor Park sang, ‘You can shove your Casement Park up your h**e’.

While Kirkwood remains de

‘I remain confident it will be ready for Euro 2028’

termined to bring Euro 2028 to Northern Ireland, he said he respects the opinions of those fans who oppose the Casement Park plan. Recently, he and his Chief Executive Nelson met with members of the Green and White Army to discuss the plan.

He said: “People are entitled to express their opinions, I’ve no problem with that.

“From a personal perspective, something that disappointed me was that one of my young nephews attended his first Northern Ireland game at Windsor Park recently, and he heard the song about Casement Park, while a woman in front of him was doing, what he described as, ‘the bad finger’.

“I don’t think that is really what you want at a match, but I entirely respect people’s right to disagree with the Irish FA and let us know about it.

“That’s why I welcomed the opportunity for myself and Patrick to meet 35 supporters’ clubs in Cookstown. It was two hours of questioning on Casement — I think it was really productive and a good way of doing business.”

Another item at the top of Kirkwood’s to-do list is to see the much-delayed Sub-regional Funding finally released.

In 2011, the Executive set aside £36.2million to improve football facilities in Northern Ireland. However, after 13 years of setbacks — including the collapse of the Assembly on two occasions — that money has not yet been released.

Earlier this year, the Government document ‘Safeguarding the Union’ — which saw the DUP return to Government and power-sharing restored — stated that Sub-regional Funding should be released as part of Euro 2028’s legacy.

Kirkwood was annoyed by the Sub-regional cash being described as ‘legacy’.

He lamented: “I struggle to accept that Sub-regional is part of the Euro 2028 legacy, as that money was promised in 2011.

“I appreciate that Casement Park starting may make it easier to unlock the funding, but I find it difficult to resolve in my head that the Sub-regional money could be considered legacy.

“You can rebadge that money whatever way you want, the reality is it’s still a promise from 13 years ago.”

With the Irish FA keen to build a new training centre and dozens of Irish League clubs desperate to upgrade their facilities, Kirkwood blasted the Executive for over a decade of delay. He also outlined his belief that £36.2million is no longer enough to satisfy football’s needs.

He said: “It’s with Gordon Lyons to release that money.

“The easy thing for him to do would be to release £36.2million, as that’s already been approved and is waiting there.

“However, £36.2million is woefully inadequate when there is £120million of need out there. Gerard Lawlor and NIFL have done some really good work in conjunction with the Irish FA to express that need.

“There is no defence for successive Executives and successive Ministers of different political parties not delivering on something that was promised in 2011. And I’ve said that to their faces. The Executive has failed to deliver.

“Sub-regional was never held back by planning or any other external issues, so you have to ask, why has this not been delivered?

“The consequence of that delay is that the cost of construction has grown exceptionally due to the soaring cost of the price of steel, meaning that £36.2million is nowhere near enough.

“It’s really disappointing, and I’m really annoyed by the lack of progress.

“Let’s see if the current Executive can actually get together and release what we need, which needs to be £120million-plus.

“It wouldn’t all be delivered in the first two or three years, I would think it will take eight to 10 years to deliver this in its entirety.

“We’re working closely with our partners at DFC and NIFL to deliver this.”