Call for Páirc Uí Chaoimh to host Euro 2028 games amid doubts over Casement Park

A Cork city councillor has called for Páirc Uí Chaoimh to be included in the Euro 2028 bid.

The call, from Labour councillor Peter Horgan, followed the revelation tonight that the British government will not fund the redevelopment of Casement Park in Belfast in time for the Euro 2028 football tournament due to rising costs and “a significant risk that it would not be built in time”.

The UK’s Northern Ireland minister Hilary Benn and culture minister Lisa Nandy announced the decision in a letter this evening to Northern Ireland Communities Minister Gordon Lyons.

Mr Lyons said he would engage with the British government to see how Northern Ireland “can still benefit from hosting the competition”.

The derelict west Belfast GAA ground had been earmarked to host five matches in Euro 2028, which is being jointly hosted by the UK and Ireland.

The Irish Government and the GAA said they would contribute to the redevelopment, but delays and spiralling costs created a funding gap. Mr Benn and Ms Nandy said the cost of building Casement Park had risen “dramatically” from when the Euro 2028 bid was awarded in October 2023 and now.

They said the risk of the GAA stadium refurbishments not being completed in time was partly due to a lack of building progress made during that time period.

The ministers also said that they were constrained by a Uefa requirement for all stadia to be ready a year before the tournament starts for “essential test events”.

“The estimated build costs have risen dramatically, from £180m (€213m) when the Euro 2028 bid was awarded in October 2023 to potentially over £400m, and there is a significant risk that it would not be built in time for the tournament,” the letter stated. “We have therefore, regrettably, decided that it is not appropriate for the UK government to provide funding to seek to build Casement Park in time to host matches at Euro 2028.

“This has been a very difficult decision to make... but it is the only way forward.”

Mr Lyons said in a statement that “the department remains committed to the 2011 agreement with the GAA for a GAA stadium, and we will engage with them in due course.”