Debate contribution: Casement Park: Non-GAA Events
Debate contribution by Mrs Pam Cameron on .
- MLA
- Mrs Pam Cameron
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 17 February 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Casement Park: Non-GAA Events
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5394486
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Thank you, Principal Deputy Speaker. I will leave others to answer the Member's query. As I said, this debate is about public money, accountability and fairness. It is not about sport, culture or community identity; it is about whether taxpayers are entitled to see a return when public funds are used to underwrite major commercial activity. Casement Park is now a project with a total funding envelope of over £170 million. That includes £62·5 million from the Executive, £50 million from the UK Government, £43 million from the Irish Government and £15 million from the GAA. That is an unprecedented level of public investment in a single sporting venue. It is also clear that Casement Park will not be used solely for GAA matches. The stadium is intended to host large-scale commercial concerts and other major non-GAA events, which will generate significant private revenue. In that context, it is entirely reasonable to ask this simple question: where is the return for the public purse? The existing funding agreements for Casement Park, Windsor Park and Ravenhill contain conditions around income generation, market rates and community benefit. However, they do not provide a clear, legally enforceable clawback mechanism to recover a proportion of the profits from commercial events. That is a gap, and it is one that the Assembly should address. We have heard arguments that Casement Park should be treated no differently from other stadia. I agree, and that is precisely why the amendment matters. This should not be about one project alone; the principle should apply to any publicly funded stadium now or in the future. If public money is used to build a venue that hosts concerts and other non-sporting events, a proportion of the net revenues from those events should flow back to the taxpayer. It is not punitive and does not threaten the viability of the project; it simply ensures value for money and protects public confidence. The Minister has acknowledged that the situation has moved on considerably since earlier funding —
No, I will not at this point. Thank you. — arrangements were put in place and that any new arrangement for Casement Park would require the funding agreement to be looked at again. That is an admission that the status quo is not sufficient. There is also the wider context that the Executive face intense pressure across Health, Education, Infrastructure and public services in general. Every pound matters. Public funding should not be open-ended, nor should it subsidise private commercial gain without conditions. Let us also be clear that this is a GAA-led project, and it is therefore for the GAA to assess affordability, review its plans and determine what additional contribution it is prepared to make. Public funding must be fair, proportionate and subject to clear safeguards. Supporting the motion and the amendment sends a clear message: if public money is to be used to support major commercial venues, the public interest comes first. The Assembly has a responsibility to set that standard. For those reasons, I support both the motion and the amendment.
510 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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