Work to prepare Casement Park for redevelopment to recommence next week

By Claudia Savage, Press Association

Work to prepare Casement Park in west Belfast for redevelopment will restart next week, the GAA has said.

Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill has welcomed the announcement that a construction company will take possession of the site from Monday.

In a letter sent to local residents, Ulster GAA said “enabling works for the stadium redevelopment” will begin on January 26th.

Previous pre-enabling work took place at the site in 2024.

The latest work will include site clearance and the demolition of the old stand at the stadium.

Plans for a 34,000-capacity stadium at the Casement Park site have been mired in uncertainty because of a major funding shortfall.

Sinn Féin finance minister John O’Dowd pledged more than £100 million (€114 million) for the long-delayed redevelopment in his draft budget that is currently out for consultation but has not been agreed by other Executive parties.

That is significantly more than the £62.5 million which was originally ringfenced for the project by Stormont in 2011, with Mr O’Dowd applying an uplift based on an estimate of construction cost inflation in the intervening years.

Last year after the prospect of hosting Euro 2028 games at Casement fell through when the UK government said it would not provide the funding for the stadium to be developed in time.

Westminster later allocated £50 million to support the redevelopment of the derelict venue.

The Irish Government has offered around €48 million (£42 million) and the GAA has pledged to contribute at least €17 million (£15 million).

On Tuesday, a UK Department for Communities spokesperson said Ulster GAA “are restarting their site clearance and demolition works at Casement Park under their own contract and expense”.

Ms O’Neill wrote on social media site X: “I welcome the news that work will begin at Casement Park next week to prepare for its regeneration.

“I am a firm believer in the power of sport and the lasting impact it brings to people’s lives, our communities, and local economy.

“Building a new Casement Park stadium is a key Executive priority.”

Sinn Féin MP for West Belfast Paul Maskey said the news of some preliminary work beginning “represents a positive milestone in that journey to see Casement Park restored as a top-class sporting and community facility”.