Casement Park: UK government 'still unclear' on redevelopment cost

The UK government is still "working to figure out" the cost of the redevelopment of Casement Park, the Northern Ireland secretary has said.

Chris Heaton-Harris told the House of Commons the "latest costs" he had seen were "significantly higher" than they were a year ago.

The original cost of rebuilding the stadium a decade ago was estimated to be £77.5m.

In March Mr Heaton-Harris suggested the cost could now be about £308m.

The Stormont Executive pledged £62.5m, while the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) has committed £15m to the project.

In February, the Irish government said it would provide €50m (£42.8m).

The GAA's president Jarlath Burns recently called for for the remaining funding gap to be filled by the UK government.

In 2023 in an interview with BBC News NI, Mr Heaton-Harris indicated the UK government was prepared to consider making a financial contribution to the project.

"We'll get the money, don't you worry," he said.

During Northern Ireland questions in the Commons on Wednesday, shadow Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn pressed Mr Heaton-Harris on how he intended to "to honour that guarantee so the stadium gets built on time".

Mr Heaton-Harris replied: "I made clear that I would like to see Euro 2028 games take place in Casement Park, however the latest costs that I've seen are significantly higher than the ones they were a year ago."

He said that taxpayer contributions to Casement's redevelopment needed to be made on a "value-for-money basis" and that there was "no blank cheque here, especially when there is no contractor appointed yet."

"We do not want to artificially inflate a price," he added.

Mr Heaton-Harris also indicated that the Northern Ireland Executive would "need to decide on whether and how it will underwrite any future increases in cost".

The redevelopment of the stadium must be completed by mid-2027 to meet a deadline set by the European football governing body Uefa.

Northern Ireland's Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has said that uncertainty over funding streams was acting as a "blockage" to meet that deadline.

In a letter to the Department of Communities, Mr Heaton-Harris said the government would "not accept a position where it is expected to cover the scale of funding gap there appears to exist".

The communities minister said he was still seeking clarity on how the funding shortfall would be met.