Messages

Some early plans have been drawn up as part of a community consultation process, however all I can see is a yello blob has anyone got any better photos or info or was even at  the leisure centre the other night to give us more details!

http://belfastmediagroup.com/new-casement-on-show/

Still no sign of any plans. If work is to start in April then Im already worried by the lack of planning or forward thinking. Similar problem with Pairc ui Chaoimh. A couple of so called plans in the Cork Echo but to say they were sketchy was an understatement and this was compounded by a member of the county council on TG4 who was only able to confirm that the stadium was going to have a capacity of 40-60000 will cost 30-70 million, may or may not have terracing and maybe opened to other sports - Is this serious how can you not know more details when you are hoping to start digging in a few months. Half hearted uninspired gaelic grounds limerick style mark 2 and 3 stadia on the way. I hope Im proved wrong

Everyone is talking as if the game favours the Irish but if you check the stats it shows the teams are virtually level since international rules started in the early eighties.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Rules_Series

It would be interesteing to see what a differnce playing with the AFL ball would make and if the Irish cope then in future have one match with the gaelic ball and one with the AFL ball.

Anybody got any news, any plans? At this rate it will ready in 40 years time. The same for parc ui chaoimh. Why the silence?

Bingo

I think a 40000 seater stadium in Belfast has potential if marketed well and opened to other sports in the future (doubt that will happen soon but you never know). I agree with you though that the GAA doesnt seem to have thought things out properly. Their other big project is a 60000 seater stadium in Cork (why so big)
The GAA should have maybe one high quality 35000-40000 stadium in each province and should have maybe consulted the IRFU years ago about joint ventures. The remaining stadiums should have smaller capacities but better facilities. Instead the GAA wants to builld 32 white elephants around the country with huge capacities but terrible facilities.
The perfect example of the mismanagement is the dump that is the ''new'' gaelic grounds in Limerick. Why build a modern stadium in the West of Ireland with no roof! Secondly Limerick isnt a big place so why didnt the IRFU and GAA agree to build one 35000 high quality stadium that would have been used regularly and been easily maintained (Thomond park is good but to me feels unfinished).
l

Anyone know when we get to see some plans? Does anybody know when work will start or finish. The same goes for the new Pairc ui chaoimh.

I am totally in support of Casement being redeveloped but a roof is a non-starter. The Millenium stadium is amazing but a GAA pitch is bigger and Im sure with a larger roof the costs will be exponential. The GAA sure cant even be bothered to place a standard roof on their modern stadia to cover the spectators ,(sports ground limerick for example) nevermind covering the whole playing surface as well.
If it was to happen the capacity would need to be on a power with croke park otherwise the roof would be too low and I would guess such a stadium would cost in todays money about a billion not 100 million rumoured for Casement so sorry lads forget it!

All joking aside if casement is developed it will hopefully awake the sleeping giant that is Antrim and get the locals behind the antrim football team - a lot easier to go to Casement for a GAA match than the round trip to parkhead every other week to watch Celtic.

Ha ha reading most of these posts you would think everyone in west belfast was a hood. I never knew GAA supporters to be so snobish. Scrap the Casement plans judging by the comments here are only option is a new stadium in Cultra!

Is there even a shred of evidence that the GAA would allow the stadium be used like this or that any of the users would want it?

No but surely it makes financial sense. The stadium is going to be upgraded anyway so seeing its located in a big city then why not look at other options. If the GAA buried its head in the sand and built it soley for the Ulster final then yes it would be a massive waste of money and a white elephant and I would agree with you then that they should leave the stadium as it is. However a new stadium run well will pay for itself

Concert promoters will be reluctant to bring any big concerts into West Belfast for the fear of alienating half of the community.

Times have moved on and will hopefully continue to do so. We all have to try and live together at some stage. Obviously located in a Nationalist area but also right beside the mixed Balmoral area and not very far from the Kings Hall which served as Belfasts main concert venue for decades

Ulster rugby will never have the need to use Casement regardless if the GAA was to change its rules. Is it there really any need for another white elephant which will be full maybe once/twice a year. Yes redevelop Casement but not at a cost of £100 million.

It wont do any harm to ask them. Im sure Ulster rugby wouldnt mind a share of the bigger profits they would get from a 40000 crowd as oppossed to 15000 crowd at Ravenhill.

I think people are missing the point of this discussion. The money is going to Casement end of story. What we should be discussing is what approach the GAA will take.

Will they do the right thing and build a top class stadium capable of hosting a wide range of events(small version of croke park)?
50 million is the amount from Stormont but several papers in the past have mentioned a budget of 100million for the stadium. If this was indeed the money involved then the potential is huge. To quote one of the above bloggers the stadium would be 40000 with 32000 seats and 8000 terrace - this is ideal. All those moaning about standing - well guess what you stand at the terrace, the vast majority of people like to sit and have the option to stand when they want! I would like to think that the whole stadium is roofed as the GAA seem to think Ireland is in the tropics and that it never rains - we need covered stadia even the terrace. The terrace should also be easily fitted with temporary seating if needed.
If done right then not only will the big Ulster GAA games be played there but as it would be by far and away the best stadium in Ulster  it could be used for a wide range of other events and concerts and maybe even the odd Heineken cup match earning Ulser GAA even more money!

The main arguments against Casement are unfounded. Locarion - in the city where hundreds of thousands of people live - as oppossed to a field in the back of beyond. Beside the M1 - okay can be a bottle neck at the juction but other options such as park and ride alleviate this, also potentially plenty of parking at Boucher or Musgrave park both of which only a short walk away. I think I would be right in saying nowhere in the 9 counties is more than 2 1/2 hours drive away.
Another argument against the development is that there is no room around the stadium - you can say that about anywhere - look at the previous aerial shots of Croke - pretty tight fit. Most of the people oppossed to this development were probably against the upgrade of Croke or Lansdowne also and now look at the facilities there - pretty impressive not to mention the knock on effect such developments have on the local area and certainly West Belfast is crying out for investment

My greatest fear is the GAA will do the half hearted effort they have done many times  in the past. Take a look at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick for a modern stadium it looks like it was built in the 1920's not to mention again the fact that it has no cover at all - at least put a simple roof on - even somethng like the new RDS stand is better than nothing.
A similar GAA project at the moment is the new Pairc ui chaoimh. That project has gone in 2 years form a state of the art 60000 stadium to eclipse Lansdowne road to suddenly the more modest plan of a new two tier stand on one side and upgrade of the terracing - 

Lets hope we have the stadium we need/deserve - interesting times ahead!