While it has been confirmed to be part of the plans to host Euro 2028, there remains major doubt as to whether Casement Park will be finished in time for the tournament.
Funding for the ground has been a contentious issue for quite some times now. The Belfast venue has sat unused since 2013, with various pushes for redevelopment having proven to be unsuccessful since then.
It was thought that would change as a result of the Euro 2028 bid, with Casement Park one of the ten selected across Great Britain and Ireland to host the major finals.
However, some major figures in Northern Irish politics have pushed against the funding needed to complete the project. While the Irish Government has committed €50million in spending and the GAA have tacked on a further £15million, recent estimates put the full cost of redevelopment at over £300million.
Calls have been made on the British Government to cover any gap that may exist, the political landscape in Northern Ireland makes the process an incredibly difficult one.
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Northern Ireland Minister calls out Casement Park opposition
A number of major sporting in Northern Ireland sites have been upgraded in recent times, including both Windsor Park and Kingspan Stadium.
With a multi-purpose stadium at Maze site having been rejected a number of years ago, it seems only fair that Casement Park now receive the same treatment.
Speaking on BBC's Sunday Politics, Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long said that the opposition towards the redevelopment of the stadium 'smacks of sectarianism' in some cases.
I’m very concerned about Casement.
I believe it needs to be built, I believe that some of the opposition to it smacks of sectarianism in many cases.
This is not where we would have started. We would have had a national stadium at the Maze site with all three codes (football, rugby and GAA) able to share that facility. That was taken off the table - the other two codes now have their facilities.
But there is a salutary lesson here when it comes to how we manage capital projects. You can’t bid for something in 2010 and expect it to cost the same in 2014 and 2024.
If you want these things to happen, you need to do them in a timely way and you need to do them to budget.
We don’t actually know what Casement is going to cost and that causes me concern.
We have to do our due diligence, we have to deliver on time and we have to deliver on budget, and that applies to Casement just as much as it does to any other project.
But there’s no reason why Casement should see any less support than the other stadiums did.
It has already been announced that Casement Park would reopen with a smaller than anticipated capacity of 30,000, although this would likely be extended in the years following Euro 2028.
Its part in hosting that tournament is only one aspect of the need for the stadium, with Belfast having gone far too long without a top class GAA ground.
Here's hoping it gets sorted as soon as possible.
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