Debate contribution: Casement Park: British Government Announcement
Debate contribution by Mr Timothy Gaston on .
- MLA
- Mr Timothy Gaston
- Party at the time
- Traditional Unionist Voice
- Date
- 16 September 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Matter of the Day
- Heading
- Casement Park: British Government Announcement
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4531675
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I welcome the news that His Majesty's Government have finally called time on the much-sought-after fairy tale that is building Casement in time for the Euros. This is a project that was ill-conceived from day 1, with huge opposition from local residents, which resulted in years of delay. The project lost the run of itself, and, in recent years, the estimated cost of the build also lost the run of itself at £400 million, which would have dwarfed the money awarded to other sports. This would have then led to a festering within the unionist community that it had been taken by the hand. We constantly hear from the Executive and Westminster that pressures exist on the public finances. It would have been madness to have committed £400 million to fund the cash cow of the GAA. Having repeatedly refused to put more than a mere £15 million towards the project, the GAA, in many ways, has only itself to blame. There are others who have not covered themselves in glory either in this saga. Chief among them are the top brass in the IFA, who refused to listen to fans and instead backed the Casement project, even when the chants of opposition were echoing around Windsor Park. Then, of course, we have the DUP, which just last week sought to tell us that the Programme for Government, which committed it to make progress on Casement, was wonderful. I say this to Minister Lyons: it is time to find reverse gear on this issue and listen to the unionist people who entrusted you with their votes and their transfers. Yes, the GAA deserves its fair share. I am not disputing that, but the fair share must be measured against the money that has gone to other sports such as football and rugby. Unless and until the GAA cleans up its act regarding the naming of cups and grounds after terrorists — I think of Thomas McElwee as an example — it should not be taken by the hand and treated as having priority for public funds. Now it is not the time to double down on planning and building Casement but the time to reassess it. I certainly would not want to be known as the unionist Minister who built Casement for the GAA.
384 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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