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

[snatter]

I think an upgrade of a stadium in Armagh/Tyrone is best, but can't see a brand new stadium being built. When was the last time a GAA stadium was built from scratch? I don't remember any.

Has no one been paying attention to the this the whole way through.

Ziggy said it earlier, this money has been ring fenced for Casement. It cannot and will not be directed to another project anywhere else.

Its Casement of bust I'm afraid.

Incorrect.

The original restrictions still stand, namely that all three sports are to spend the money on one stadium development each.

There have never been any restrictions on whether the stadiums should be refurbishments, greenfield sites, or ties to any given location.

The decision to spend the money on Casement was the GAA's, and the GAA's alone. After receiving (flawed) advice from an unnamed consultancy in 2010 that the site could accommodate a 40k stadium.

[JPGJOHNNYG]

I think an upgrade of a stadium in Armagh/Tyrone is best, but can't see a brand new stadium being built. When was the last time a GAA stadium was built from scratch? I don't remember any.

Has no one been paying attention to the this the whole way through.

Ziggy said it earlier, this money has been ring fenced for Casement. It cannot and will not be directed to another project anywhere else.

Its Casement of bust I'm afraid.

Incorrect.

The original restrictions still stand, namely that all three sports are to spend the money on one stadium development each.

There have never been any restrictions on whether the stadiums should be refurbishments, greenfield sites, or ties to any given location.

The decision to spend the money on Casement was the GAA's, and the GAA's alone. After receiving (flawed) advice from an unnamed consultancy in 2010 that the site could accommodate a 40k stadium.

The IFA are not ploughing all their money into Windsor. They will have some left over for 'other' projects - likely to be a new Glentoran stadium and a makeover elesewhere. Windsor itself is only costing 31 million

[NAG1]

I think an upgrade of a stadium in Armagh/Tyrone is best, but can't see a brand new stadium being built. When was the last time a GAA stadium was built from scratch? I don't remember any.

Has no one been paying attention to the this the whole way through.

Ziggy said it earlier, this money has been ring fenced for Casement. It cannot and will not be directed to another project anywhere else.

Its Casement of bust I'm afraid.

Incorrect.

The original restrictions still stand, namely that all three sports are to spend the money on one stadium development each.

There have never been any restrictions on whether the stadiums should be refurbishments, greenfield sites, or ties to any given location.

The decision to spend the money on Casement was the GAA's, and the GAA's alone. After receiving (flawed) advice from an unnamed consultancy in 2010 that the site could accommodate a 40k stadium.

The IFA are not ploughing all their money into Windsor. They will have some left over for 'other' projects - likely to be a new Glentoran stadium and a makeover elesewhere.

The Glentoran thing is an appeasement coming from the IFA after they had 'messed' up with Windsor's Long term lease too Linfield. The money is not coming out of this pot.

My point is, the shared stadium was rejected, all three sports then selected their own projects. From this the money was allocated to each. The money was allocated on the basis of Windsor/ Ravenhill and Casement and has to be 'now' used for these project alone.

Slight technicality but that's the way it is standing currently.

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Ok here we go Northern Irelands strategic plan

https://secure.irishfa.com/fs/doc/IFA_Strategy_-_Final_proof_19_Nov_2013.pdf

For those who dont want to wade through all the rubbish here is the important bit on page 13

'THE Association has a once in a generation opportunity
to transform its stadia over the next five years.
The £29.2m re-development of Windsor Park into a
state of the art 18,000 seat National Stadium will be
more than a new ground for the national team.
It will be a new home for the Irish FA; a new
conference facility for the city of Belfast; and provide new
social and recreational facilities to local communities.
We hope that its construction symbolises a continuing
confidence in a new Northern Ireland, and in turn
inspires growing confidence and support for our team.
A further £36.2m investment is planned to develop
sub-regional facilities for the benefit of both the
international and domestic game. By improving and
upgrading facilities across Northern Ireland, we will
provide better environments to develop our players and
improve the facilities for fans and supporters who come
to watch the game.
In total, the NI Executive through the Department
of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) has committed
£61.4 million of capital funding for football stadia and
facilities. The Irish FA is committing a further £4 million
(14% of the total stadium project costs), and we aim to
attract further investment partners both at the new
National Stadium, and for regional facilities.'


'The remainder of the £36.2m allocation will be open
to bids from individual clubs and consortia across
Northern Ireland for community and social cohesion
projects, or to develop their clubs into community
"beacons" with their facilities opened up for use by
local communities, or as part of a social enterprise. '

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Before you all get too excited I seriously doubt the GAA are about to offer money to individual clubs. I still think it will all be ploughed into the one development. The GAA themselves released a strategic plan not so long ago and it definitely involved one quality modern stadium in each province.

[6th sam]

100 million is crazy.  Put 3 million into each county board for elite county facilities IE Garvaghy = 27 million  to give third pitch  grants and floodlighting  of 150 000 each to 300 clubs accross Ulster = 45 million. leaves 28 million cash to develop a decend Belfast stadium along with a decent business plan that pays off.
The GAAs idea of promotion at the moment is from the top down not the bottom up.  Which will have more effect - improved additional community facilities based on need or Casement 100 mill white elephant based on vanity.

I suppose the main question should be , can the money set aside for this project be used elsewhere. If so, then upgrading county grounds and centres of excellence, and providing more floodlighting for clubs, throughout ulster, would be a much better use of those funds.
We have many challenges in the future , and though the attraction of having a state of the art stadium in Belfast is obvious, I am not sure that It would leave us better equipped to meet those challenges.
Though Clones is very inaccessible for me personally, there is no doubt it is an exceptional location , in terms of atmosphere before, during and after matches.
I have attended venues throughout Ireland. Casement is my closest inter county venue, but with due respect to Antrim Gaels, Casement is the most unwelcoming venue I have attended, by some distance.
The surrounding population, pubs and even Casement social club patrons, seem to have a surreal detachment from the actual event. The stewarding is often unhelpful and at worst aggressive.
I can totally empathise with local residents, concerned about loss of light and an extended use of the stadium for concerts etc, and they have every right to challenge aspects of planning. But surely they have to accept that such developments are part and parcel of choosing to live in an urban area, in much the same way as rural residents have to accept that they will always have inferior access to transport, health services, retail etc. Regrettably, I suspect that given the detachment of the local community from Casement, that some of the residents motivation is inherently anti-GAA. It is interesting to note that the residents surrounding Ravenhill and Windsor park have not challenged planning to a similar extent .
The tasteful, iconic venue proposed for Casement park, would have been a long overdue boost to the economy of west Belfast. The potential pride and self confidence generated by  having one of the best venues in Europe has probably been lost.
The Gaa should accept nothing less than the 38000 capacity required to host Ulster finals, and the Judge would need to review his research, to realise that Casement's failure to host sizeable crowds recently , is purely because it hasn't hosted Ulster finals, which are always 30k+ sell outs in a very inaccessible venue , Not to speak of a 60k Ulster final crowd in Croke Park.
It looks like a Casement project to meet our needs is not an option, but the GAA should insist that the £60 million revenue to which they are entitled is freed up to develop their facilities throughout Ulster, including in Belfast, in areas where the ethos of the GAA is appreciated.

Talk of a 20-25k stadium is a non-runner, as that would be wholly inadequate to host Ulster finals, and not meeting the GAAs strategic plan of 40k venue in each province. The £60m funding is for Ulster GAA to provide a flagship provincial venue to meet their needs, in the same way that Ulster rugby and the IFA were provided with finance. The money is not provided to update Antrim GAA's county ground .
Therefore it's a very simple choice :
1. a 38k stadium at Casement,
2. a similar sized stadium elsewhere eg  Ballygawley ,
3. Lobby for the right to utilise the money to which we are entitled , to meet our own needs, eg upgrade Clones or Armagh, and distribute the rest of the money throughout Ulster

[rrhf]

super post. 

[Applesisapples]

super post.

Clones is not an option.

[cluaineois]

The 17 million of gaa money can be spent where the gaa see fit and would go a long way in upgrading Clones.

[BennyHarp]

The 17 million of gaa money can be spent where the gaa see fit and would go a long way in upgrading Clones.

But can it be spent across the border?

[cluaineois]

The 17 million of gaa money can be spent where the gaa see fit and would go a long way in upgrading Clones.

But can it be spent across the border?

Of course it can most of it has come as far as i know from Croke park the rest from the ulster council

[rashCharacter]

I think the GAA stadium strategy should be for shared facilities in urban areas for big championship matches rather than white elephants in every county.
Each county would then have a smaller stadium for club matches/league games etc

[BennyHarp]

The 17 million of gaa money can be spent where the gaa see fit and would go a long way in upgrading Clones.

But can it be spent across the border?

Of course it can most of it has come as far as i know from Croke park the rest from the ulster council

Are you sure about that?

[Muzz]

If he is sure hes wrong...

£61million of the £77 million has come from the British Government

[Lecale2]

Final decision to be annoounced at the High Court tomorrow 2.30pm.