Euro 2028 and Casement Park: What is going on with Belfast's stadium?

Casement Park has not been in use for 10 years

Northern Ireland's hopes of hosting Euro 2028 are fading fast.

A new stadium at Casement Park in west Belfast was earmarked as Northern Ireland's sole venue for the tournament.

But the clock is ticking on whether the planned 34,000 capacity ground will get the money it needs to be built in time.

So how did we get here? And will Casement Park get the money it needs to host Euro 2028? BBC News NI takes a closer look at Northern Ireland's long-running stadium saga.

Where is Casement Park?

In west Belfast, just a stone's throw from the busy M1 motorway heading south out of the city, is where you'll find the site put forward to host one of the world's biggest sporting tournaments.

It first opened in 1953 as a stadium for Gaelic games, and has been the home of Antrim GAA since its inception. The official capacity was just more than 31,000, although three-quarters of the ground was terracing.

However, there have been no visitors to Casement in more than a decade and, for years, any passing motorists able to crane their neck into the ground would only see a derelict husk.

In February, clearance work finally began at the site in preparation for the new stadium - but it's still unclear when, or even if, that will happen.

What is happening with Casement Park?

Short answer - nothing. And it's because of money.

There have been plans to build a new stadium at Casement Park since 2011, long before Euro 2028.

Originally that stadium was to cost about £76m, with £61m coming from Northern Ireland's power-sharing government and £15m from the GAA.

But between spiralling construction costs and other financial hiccups, it has now been suggested that the stadium could cost more than £300m.

The Northern Ireland Executive has pledged to pay £62.5m, the Irish government has promised €50m (£43m) and the GAA - the sporting body which oversees Gaelic games - has said it would contribute £15m.

So that leaves a considerable amount of money needed to get the stadium built.

Who is supposed to pay for Casement Park?

The GAA, which owns the ground, is adamant it will pay no more than the £15m it has pledged. Same for the cash-strapped Northern Ireland government's £62.5m commitment.

That's put most of the onus on the UK government.

Last year, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris struck a confident tone, saying "we'll get the money, don't you worry".

But that confidence appears to have evaporated.

In March, a leaked letter from Mr Heaton-Harris to Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said the government "will not accept a position where it is expected to cover the scale of funding gap there appears to exist".

Casement Park has not been in use since 2013 - and the cost of redevelopment has been going up ever since

GAA president Jarlath Burns has said he is pessimistic on the prospect of the stadium hosting Euro 2028 and it is clear the redevelopment plan is on hold until after the general election on 4 July.

If Labour win that election, they have made no commitment to push Casement forward.

The party's Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, Hilary Benn, said it would not write a blank cheque to build the stadium.

What is the deadline for Euro 2028?

It's sooner than the actual tournament.

Uefa require new stadia to be open for about a year before a major competition, so that rehearsal matches and safety checks can be completed.

Why isn't Windsor Park being used for Euro 2028?

Uefa requires that all European Championship stadia have a capacity exceeding 30,000.

The National Stadium at Windsor Park - Northern Ireland's footballing home - holds 18,500 spectators.

The Irish Football Association (IFA) has said there is "no route to fund an expansion" of the ground.

Essentially, when it comes to Euro 2028 in Northern Ireland, it's Casement or bust.

What is the story behind Casement Park?

To answer that question, we have to go back a couple of decades.

At that time, Northern Ireland's three main stadiums for football, rugby and GAA - Windsor Park, Ravenhill, and Casement - were seen as increasingly not fit for purpose.

Money and a new plan was needed. Initially, Northern Ireland's power-sharing government - the Northern Ireland Executive - came up with an idea for a new, multi-purpose national stadium for all sports.

The Maze Prison, which closed in 2000, was once considered as the site for a new national stadium

But the divisive proposal of situating the stadium at the site of the Maze Prison - which held paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles, Northern Ireland's bloody conflict of 30 years - meant the idea was eventually dashed on the political rocks.

So instead, in 2011, it was decided that cash would go towards stadium redevelopment:

• Windsor Park, the home of Northern Ireland's international football team and Linfield FC, was turned into an 18,500 all-seater stadium at the cost of £31m - the new build reopened in October 2016

• Ravenhill, the home of Ulster Rugby, was redeveloped and capacity increased to 18,000 at a cost of £16.5m - work finished in May 2014

• About £36m would be set aside for sub-regional football stadia aka grounds used by local football clubs

• And Casement Park would get £61m - the same amount as football in total - for a new 38,000 capacity stadium

While Ravenhill and Windsor - or the National Stadium as it's now officially known - are open and hosting big events, Casement Park has only seen a digger or two.

Why has the Casement Park redevelopment taken so long?

In 2012, stadium designers were appointed to the project and it was expected the new Casement Park would be built by 2015. But it didn't turn out that way.

The first big obstacle came in 2014, when the High Court overturned planning permission for the project.

Local residents had lodged a legal challenge over objections to the stadium's size - they said it would block out light from local homes and cause serious traffic disruption.

Then, in 2015, came possibly the most contentious year of the Casement Park project.

Firstly, it emerged that a Safety Technical Group (STG) formed to oversee safety issues around the new stadium had not approved the design plans due to concerns over how long it would take people to leave the ground in an emergency.

Later, one of the STG members, safety expert Paul Scott, told a Northern Ireland Assembly committee that he had been put "under pressure" to approve the plans by government officials.

He also complained of bullying- he later settled an industrial tribunal case with Sport NI.

With the original Casement plan now scrapped, the GAA went to work on plans for a new stadium, revising the capacity down from 38,000 to about 34,500.

An artist's impression of the new proposed stadium, which would have a capacity of 34,500

It submitted a fresh application for planning permission in 2017, which was granted in 2021.

Finally, in 2022, local residents lost a legal challenge against the new project against the plan - the stadium could now go ahead.

What else do we need to know about Casement Park?

Well, it's not just residents' concerns and the cost of the project which has been raising eyebrows.

For instance, Northern Ireland football supporters' group, the Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters' Clubs (AONISC), have said it is their preference that "football tournaments should be hosted by football stadia".

Some of that frustration is driven by stadium money of a different kind - when cash was announced for Casement, Windsor Park and Ravenhill more than a decade ago, £36m was set aside for what were described as sub-regional football stadia.

Most football league grounds in Northern Ireland are in dire need of redevelopment. And with the £25m earmarked for Windsor, it would mean football and Gaelic games both getting an equal slice - £61m - from the public purse.

Northern Ireland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland have never hosted matches for a major international football tournament

That money was delayed due to inaction and the continual political instability in Northern Ireland, until Gordon Lyons announced in May that the long-awaited £36m would be released.

The complicated political landscape is also a factor. Northern Ireland's football team is cross-community, but takes much of it support from the Protestant community, while many Catholics support the Republic of Ireland. The national team's home, Windsor Park, is in a unionist area, while Casement Park is in predominantly nationalist west Belfast.

• Casement project has political and sporting significance

It's named after Sir Roger Casement, an Irish revolutionary who, in 1916, was executed in London for treason. Even the GAA's own history with football is complicated, given that up until 2005 a rule was in place forbidding other sports from using GAA pitches.

So what's next for Casement Park?

Secure the rest of the funding, build the stadium and get ready to host the biggest sporting event in Northern Ireland's history - that was supposed to be the simple answer.

The more complicated answer, after more than 10 years of twists and turns, remains to be seen.