Casement Park in line for major overhaul - 40,000 all seater Stadium.

[Armagh18]

100% agree with these sentiments.  I hope casement is built but it'll be nowhere near as good as a day at clones.  The craic in the town, the walk up the hill, the bars, fantastic.  As a Tyrone fan maybe I won't experience another ulster final there.  Maybe next year we'll get favourable draws like armagh have got recently

Jarlath doing us a turn, it's not what ye know it's who ye know just need him to get rid of them penalty shoot outs lol.

[6th sam]

Casement must happen because:
1. Genuine Concerns can be addressed.
2. Antrim GAA people deserve it
3. Ulster GAA people deserve it
4. West belfast deserves it
5. Belfast and the neglected 9 counties of Ulster deserve it.
6. The Euros has presented an opportunity
7. Shared future by benefitting all
8.  Not allowing further DUP bullying and lack of generosity to hold us back

Is this not just guff?

For example, you say that Antrim and west Belfast deserve it. Why?

And when you say "deserve it", do you mean having their county ground  removed from them with zero reward?

Yes that's exactly what I mean about Antrim. They had a brilliant stadium and were going to get it replaced  by a better one and they've been waiting over 10 years because of delays for various reasons(some genuine, some vexatious).
West belfast deserves it because they suffered loss of life , loss of opportunities and loss of finances throughout the troubles and since. It'll be great to see them get a well overdue boost in terms of jobs, opportunities, finances and self esteem . The most modern stadium in Europe is on the Andytown road.
So no, it's not guff , it's about ambition, reward and a new beginning after horrendous times . Bring it on!

[Ball Hopper]

Will headquarters fix quarter-finals outside of Croke Park, with Belfast and Cork getting one each every year?

[Milltown Row2]

To assuage Unionist concerns, should there be a mention of the two Corporals?

Were they actually killed in Casement? I know they were dragged in but I assumed they were killed on the waste ground at the front of the PD, not sure tbh

[johnnycool]

I think it's time to step back and re-calibrate. There has been negativity around casement from the start, and my own views have changed over the years.
I think any criticism of the ulster council has to be tempered by the fact that they were breaking new ground on a mammoth project and experience and knowledge were thin on the ground .the lack of consideration of residents was a big weakness , and unfortunately has given the whole project a bad rep.
However there is no doubt that an anti-GAA agenda has been pro-actively negative from the start. This anti-GAA element, incredibly, is not just from unionists.

Genuine concerns must be addressed but there are overwhelming positives to this project:
For everybody including Stormont government : economic spin-off and feel good factor for Belfast with big games, events , and impressive aesthetics .
For GAA: second best stadium in second biggest city. Worldwide recognition , income generation
For Antrim: a state of the art venue for their games and their promotion of the gAA

The GAA have secured 50k from Southern government , and will perhaps increase its own contribution via internal and external funding to make it happen .

The precedent has been set by its ambition in re-building Croke Park 30 years ago, benefitting the GAA and everybody else in terms of economic /tax benefits .


The British government and stormont will have to stump up a significant sum but they'll get it back in droves in terms of economic and social benefit.
The initial planned outlay must be significantly increased due to inflation and cost of labour and materials , alone .

Those of an "Irish" background should be careful not to support vexatious concerns from anti-gaa , anti-Irish sources .

Casement must happen because:
1. Genuine Concerns can be addressed.
2. Antrim GAA people deserve it
3. Ulster GAA people deserve it
4. West belfast deserves it
5. Belfast and the neglected 9 counties of Ulster deserve it.
6. The Euros has presented an opportunity
7. Shared future by benefitting all
8.  Not allowing further DUP bullying and lack of generosity to hold us back

If only they had someone in the north who had experience of this......

They did and he was involved at the initial phases and it was well documented here in relation to the row with the then Antrim chairman and the Casement social club.

The problems arose when certain politicians tried to railroad the safety committee in relation to how quickly the original stadium could be emptied in event of an incident. Thankfully the lad in question wasn't so easily brow beaten and a redesign was required.

[DuffleKing]

White Elephant. Cost is ridiculous

[Rossfan]

Will headquarters fix quarter-finals outside of Croke Park, with Belfast and Cork getting one each every year?

No.

[Armagh18]

Will headquarters fix quarter-finals outside of Croke Park, with Belfast and Cork getting one each every year?

Hopefully.

[Sandy Hill]

White Elephant. Cost is ridiculous

+1

[snoopdog]

They could certainly move the league finals if geography required.

[OakleafCounty]

White Elephant. Cost is ridiculous

+1

+2 Absolute waste of money. Should be spread between the other County Grounds with Antrim getting the bulk. No need for a white elephant. 

[Dreadnought]

White Elephant. Cost is ridiculous

+1

+2 Absolute waste of money. Should be spread between the other County Grounds with Antrim getting the bulk. No need for a white elephant. 

You are all fairly missing the point in it. Antrim need it, Ulster GAA also need it. And not to mention it is needed for Euros, and likes of Ulster Rugby said they will use it too for their bigger games. It's going to be built. It's not a white elephant that way. Costs are an issue due to UEFA grade stadium needed which added on a lot. It needs built in some form, and this is the form that UK govt need for the Euros, otherwise the North loses out. It'll happen and now that Irish government have added in, UK will save face and do so too

[Wildweasel74]

As much as I want a top of the range stadia, the cost will be hard to justify. No lessons learned from the building of Cork stadium, Where the concerts,Munster final etc which were supposed to be played there.

[Dreadnought]

As much as I want a top of the range stadia, the cost will be hard to justify. No lessons learned from the building of Cork stadium, Where the concerts,Munster final etc which were supposed to be played there.

is this not very different to Cork, in that there are Euros, and main events like Ulster semis and finals each year. Cork doesn't have that, never did. The North doesn't have any ground this size, and it is needed and will be used. Unlike PUC

[Sportacus]

It's the spoofing that annoys me. A bunch of amateurs and their only hope now is that the UK Government throw the money at it to deliver the Euros, whatever it takes. That may save their skin in the end, but never forget it has been a complete fiasco.

And every chance it will be an underused white elephant. The euros will be gone in a blink, and then what?  Potentially one or two capacity games per year, and as far as concerts, there are plenty of established venues already so there'll be plenty of competition for the big artists to pick from - no guarantee at all of success there either. 

And where will an Antrim U16 final be played?  Will they really go to the cost of opening a 34k seat stadium for a club underage final?