Casement Park: Uefa delegation to visit west Belfast site

Work began at Casement Park earlier this month

A delegation from the organisers of the Euro 2028 football tournament is expected to arrive in Belfast on Tuesday, ahead of a visit to Casement Park.

The venue in west Belfast is earmarked to host games at the tournament in four years.

But the stadium has yet to be redeveloped.

The deadline to complete the construction is mid-2027.

At this stage, there is not sufficient funding to pay for the redevelopment, which could cost more than £200m.

Euro 2028 is organised by the governing body of European football, Uefa.

Casement Park is one of 10 venues in the UK and Ireland due to host games at the tournament.

It will have a capacity of more than 30,000 - and although it will be primarily a stadium for Gaelic games, it can be adapted for use by other sports.

'Exciting times'

The Uefa delegation will be in Belfast for a number of days and will look at technical aspects of the tournament preparations.

They are expected to be shown around Casement Park by leading members of the Irish Football Association (IFA) and the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association).

The officials are also likely to attend Tuesday night's women's Nations League play-off game at Windsor Park between Northern Ireland and Montenegro.

An Irish FA spokesperson said: "We are looking forward to hosting Uefa to share more details about plans to host UEFA Euro 2028.

"These are exciting times. Being part of this unique UK and Ireland tournament will benefit not just football, but all sections of our society, and we look forward to sharing the compelling story of Northern Ireland and Belfast."

The delegation is expected to be in contact with officials from some Stormont departments, the PSNI and Belfast City Council.

Casement Park has not been in use for 10 years

In spite of the doubts over funding, work began last week to prepare the site in west Belfast for construction.

Intensive work has taken place in the background involving all aspects of the planned stadium, in the hope that the money will be secured soon.

The DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) MP Jim Shannon has said he believes the redevelopment would cost £220m - almost three times the original estimate a decade ago.

Hopes that extra money would be found were boosted last week by news that the Irish government is prepared to pay more than £40m to help rebuild the stadium.

The Stormont Executive has promised £62.5m, while the GAA has pledged £15m.

On Monday, new GAA president Jarlath Burns said he does not support the GAA investing more money into the redevelopment of Casement Park.

With the rebuilding project likely to take at least two-and-a-half years, it will need to begin soon to meet the summer 2027 deadline for completion.

Supporters of the project say the rebuilt stadium, hosting different sports, would improve community relations in Northern Ireland and help bring down physical and social barriers.

Rising costs

On Tuesday, Northern Ireland's auditor general said further delays to Casement's redevelopment could add to the upgrade cost.

She told BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster her office was provided with an anticipated cost of between £112m and £140m by the Department for Communities in July 2023.

She said based on the evidence and looking at the rising costs over the last four years, further delay could indeed result in even bigger cost overruns.