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The Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Abandoned 34,500-seater football stadium that had been tipped to host Euro 2028 matches in new boost after £50m funding
AN ABANDONED 34,500-seater football stadium that had been tipped to host Euro 2028 matches has received a new boost after landing £50million in funding. Belfast's Casement Park was initially selected as a host stadium for the upcoming tournament. 4 4 It saw Northern Ireland join England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland as a host nation. Plans were afoot to rebuild the ground to a 34,000 capacity in time for the competition. But Northern Ireland was axed as one of the host nations due to funding issues over Casement Park. The national team currently plays at Windsor Park, which holds 18,000 fans. However, Uefa requires all grounds for major tournaments to hold at least 30,000 spectators. And failure to find the funding for Casement Park ended Northern Ireland's hopes of hosting Euro 2028 games. But now, the overgrown arena has been given a major boost after receiving £50m towards a £260m rebuild. That money has come from the government, according to the BBC. And it has finally been confirmed that the funds will not have to be repaid, with the £50m being provided as an 'equity stake' and not a loan. Despite the cash boost, the redevelopment of Casement Park is still not fully financed. Jarlath Burns warns 'time is money' over Casement Park stadium project 4 4 £260m is required for a full rebuild, but the Gaelic Athletic Association can only find £120m on top of the government's £50m – leaving a £90m shortfall in total. Casement Park used to be a top stadium for hurling and Gaelic football matches. Tens of thousands of fans used to cram in for matches. But the venue shut down in 2013 and has since been left abandoned. Now, the derelict site has received planning permission to be modernised and early demolition work has begun.
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Abandoned 34,500-seater football stadium that had been tipped to host Euro 2028 matches lands £50m towards restoration
AN abandoned stadium that was set to host Euro 2028 matches has received a huge boost over its future. The 3 Casement Park has been left to rot for ten years Credit: AFP 3 There were plans to bring the stadium back to life for Euro 2028 Credit: AFP 3 Demolition work has begun at the site Credit: Sportsfile Belfast's But it has since been axed from Euro 2028 due to funding issues and Northern Ireland will no longer be a host nation. Despite that, redevelopment of Casement Park is still going ahead and the government have confirmed that they are making a £50million contribution to the project. But there is still a £90m shortfall as Stormont chiefs and the Gaelic Athletic Association can only find £120m of the £260m required. READ MORE IN FOOTBALL Northern Ireland's finance minister John O'Dowd welcomed the government's backing and encouraged everyone to "now work together" to get the stadium built. Incredible photos show the stands rotting and the pitch overgrown. The ground welcomed 31,000 supporters back in its pomp for hurling and Gaelic football matches. Most read in Football JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS The derelict site has received planning permission to be modernised and early demolition work has begun. But some have called for the proposed design to be axed to allow for a cheaper build to be made. Northern Ireland currently play their home games at the 18,500-seater Windsor Park. Uefa require all grounds for major tournaments to be able to hold 30,000 fans. The Irish FA have ruled out expanding Windsor Park. Euro 2028 Stadiums London: Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Birmingham: Villa Park Manchester: Etihad Stadium Liverpool: Everton's Bramley-Moore Dock Newcastle: St James' Park Cardiff: Millennium Stadium Dublin: Aviva Stadium Glasgow: Hampden Park
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK government in 'solution-finding mode' on Casement Park
The UK government is in "solution-finding mode" when it comes to resolving funding for the redevelopment of Casement Park, Stormont's finance minister has said. John O'Dowd was speaking after a meeting in London with Treasury officials ahead of next week's Spending Review. The GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) ground has been lying derelict for more than a decade. Negotiations have been ongoing to determine if the government will make a contribution to the west Belfast stadium. A Spending Review, expected on Wednesday 11 June, will see the government lay out its financial plans for day-to-day spending for the next three years. It has largely been viewed as the juncture when it confirms whether or not it will make a financial contribution to help deliver the stalled plans to redevelop the Gaelic games venue. It is estimated that it would cost at least £260m to build a new stadium, but only around £120m is currently available. Stormont's Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has promised £62.5m from the Stormont executive, the GAA say it will pay £15m while the Irish government has pledged around £43m.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
DUP minister to attend his first GAA match
The Communities Minister Gordon Lyons is set to attend his first Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) match this weekend. Mr Lyons, from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), previously attended a GAA games festival for young people in Antrim but this will be his first senior football fixture since taking up office more than a year ago. The minister, who is responsible for sport in Northern Ireland, has been criticised by the GAA President Jarlath Burns for his failure to attend any senior games. He was invited last year by the GAA to attend the All Ireland final which was won by Armagh, but he was not able to go because of diary commitments. During a trip to Washington in March the minister pledged to attend a match before the end of the season. At the time, he said he had been to GAA clubs, attended GAA events and met GAA officials and had reached out to the organisation about attending a match. Previous DUP ministers who have attended GAA matches include former first minister Arlene Foster who watched the Ulster Final in 2018 and the current Stormont speaker Edwin Poots. Minister Lyons' attendance at this weekend's match comes just weeks ahead of a key decision on the redevelopment of the Casement Park GAA stadium in Belfast. The government is due to announce next month if it plans to provide funding for the project following a Treasury spending review. Despite cash commitments from the Stormont Executive, Irish government and GAA, there is still a £150m funding shortfall for the project which is estimated to cost about £270m. Secretary of State Hilary Benn has said if the government decides to provide funding it will not plug the current gap. Minister apologises for comment at women's sport event Lyons 'needs to show he's minister for all sports' - GAA NI sports minister yet to attend GAA game in role
The Guardian
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Sundance Kid' JP McManus has five shots at Grand National history
For a man who is still most familiar to many fans as the most fearless gambler of recent decades, JP McManus does not seem to be leaving a great deal to chance before Saturday's Grand National at Aintree. Three of the top six in the betting for the world's most famous steeplechase – Iroko, Perceval Legallois and last year's winner, I Am Maximus – will carry the owner's famous green and gold colours this weekend, along with a live each-way shot in Meetingofthewaters. The Sundance Kid – as he was nicknamed in Ireland's betting rings in the 1970s – is now in his mid-70s, but he shows no sign of slowing down. Quite the opposite, in fact. He went into last month's Cheltenham festival as the meeting's all-time leading owner with 78 wins over the course of 43 years since Mister Donovan gave him his first festival winner in 1982. Over the course of just four days, he added six more, including a second Gold Cup victory with Inothewayurthinkin. The nature of the competition in National Hunt racing has changed considerably since McManus bought his first horse in 1977. Owners including the Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary, the former banker Rich Ricci and the construction magnate Brian Acheson have brought serious spending power to what was once a less money-driven cousin to the serious business on the Flat. But the ex-bookie and punter from Limerick, who laid his first bet at his local greyhound track, has more than held his own. More than 200 individual horses have carried his colours – adopted in honour of his local Gaelic Athletic Association club – in the current season, and a piece of racing history is within sight at the weekend, too. McManus is already one of just six owners – including O'Leary, Trevor Hemmings and, interestingly, the legendary Victorian owner-gambler James Machell – to have won the Grand National three times. Victory for any of his runners on Saturday would give him the outright record, in the race that most owners want to win above all others. His three winners to date have all been memorable in their way. Don't Push It, in 2010, finally gave Tony McCoy a victory at the 15th attempt, while Minella Times in 2021 was more significant still, as Rachael Blackmore became the first female jockey to ride the winner. I Am Maximus, meanwhile, was the springboard for Willie Mullins, his trainer, to become the first Irish-based winner of the British jump trainers' championship for 70 years. All three had different trainers, and it is sign of how widely McManus has always spread his horses that two more – Gavin Cromwell, who saddles Perceval Legallois, and the British yard of Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero, who train Iroko – will hope to join the list on Saturday. Chantry House, a 100-1 outsider, is his other runner. More than 60 trainers, in fact, have saddled a runner in green and gold this season, including about 20 British stables. While many owners focus their investment on a handful of trainers, McManus's training fees feed the grassroots as well. Frank Berry, an ex-jockey who has been McManus's racing manager for as long as anyone can remember, is in no doubt about which of the team's horses he would ride at Aintree if he had the chance. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 'It's hard to get away from Maximus, he's the class horse in the race. We've often had numbers there all right, but they didn't figure at the right end [of the market],' Berry said on Wednesday. 'We've a good team going this year and they're all in good form.' Any one of Iroko, I Am Maximus or Perceval Legallois could set off as the favourite on Saturday afternoon, but if one of the trio does indeed emerge from the pack to head the market, it is unlikely to be McManus's money that puts him there. The great gambler's tilts at the ring have largely been consigned to history, along with the handful of much-missed figures in the bookmaking jungle who were more than willing to take him on. The ebb and flow of his six-figure jousting with 'Fearless' Freddie Williams at Cheltenham around the turn of the century became the stuff of festival legend, including the day when McManus relieved his bookie of nearly £1m with a £100k bet on a winning favourite at 6-1 and £2k each-way on a successful 50-1 shot in the Pertemps Final. Perhaps the business of amassing a $2bn fortune through Forex trading and property investments has also removed the need to have a bet on his horses. Racing history, meanwhile, is another way to measure success, though Berry suggests it is the last thing on the owner's mind. 'Not at all,' he says, when asked if a fourth National winner would be a special moment for McManus. 'He enjoys the horses running in the big races and all races, and having a winner anywhere around the country.'
