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

[Wildweasel74]

Don't think i donate money just because people were out of their depth trying to manage a major works project with in-house people on board who to me hadn't a clue. I wouldn't bring it somebody from my local club to help me build a new school. Not 1 lesson has been learned from that shit show in Cork.

[general_lee]

A lot of talk about maintenance costs. Can someone tell me what the maintenance costs of the old Casement were?

[Duine Inteacht Eile]

Completely agree, get it built if GAA members were asked to contribute £1 each to make up the short fall I'm sure they would do it in a heart beat. The GAA community in the north need this stadium and they needed it yesterday.

I for one would not even contribute the steam off my piss.
If it goes ahead as planned, its hanging a massive millstone around the neck of the Ulster Council (UC) for decades, and that will have real connotations for UC coaching development etc.


When the ongoing maintenance costs of the ivory towers becomes clear in due course, the level of stupidity in calling for this stadium as currently designed will also become crystal clear.



I'd much rather put my money into any club looking to make a second pitch or changing rooms - something of far more benefit.

Unreal.....can you not see past the nose on your face, future generations should have this stadium.
The great days of going to Clones on Ulster final day are a thing of the past, and live only in our heads.
Why can we not have a stadium where you can get the same feeling of pride walking into it as you do when going into Croke Park and its only up the road.

Why can I not have a private jet? I'd be proud as punch if I had one of those.

[6th sam]

Completely agree, get it built if GAA members were asked to contribute £1 each to make up the short fall I'm sure they would do it in a heart beat. The GAA community in the north need this stadium and they needed it yesterday.

I for one would not even contribute the steam off my piss.
If it goes ahead as planned, its hanging a massive millstone around the neck of the Ulster Council (UC) for decades, and that will have real connotations for UC coaching development etc.


When the ongoing maintenance costs of the ivory towers becomes clear in due course, the level of stupidity in calling for this stadium as currently designed will also become crystal clear.



I'd much rather put my money into any club looking to make a second pitch or changing rooms - something of far more benefit.

Unreal.....can you not see past the nose on your face, future generations should have this stadium.
The great days of going to Clones on Ulster final day are a thing of the past, and live only in our heads.
Why can we not have a stadium where you can get the same feeling of pride walking into it as you do when going into Croke Park and its only up the road.

Why can I not have a private jet? I'd be proud as punch if I had one of those.

So now we're comparing an environmentally toxic toy for a billionaire , to a project that will bring jobs and investment to a socially deprived and chronically underfunded area, with a £172m head start . It will be an opportunity for the North to have a multi sports,recreation and concert venue that gives us something to feel good about, for once.
Given that uk and stormont government are investing monies and saying we may have to scale back, presumably they can help streamline the planning process, given that the changes are going to be less intrusive for the locals .
Presumably with that level of funding they'll have significant input into design and procurement to ensure value for that money.
If I had a choice between stretching GAA coffers for a 34500 all seater stadium , or a 28000 seater/terraced , cost effective ,sustainable , daily usage venue that is designed to provide income, investment and opportunity, i'd take the latter all day long . The GAA has precedent in the Croke Park success , and those that get the boot into the GAA should look to the success of Croke Park , and running functional ~20000 capacity stadia in almost every county in Ireland . In Ulster alone ,provincial towns with poor infrastructure : Omagh , Derry , newry EnnisKillen Armagh Cavan ballybofey and Clones , have successful stadia,  yet people think the GAA can't run a slightly bigger stadium in the second biggest city in Ireland , with a £172m head start.

West Belfast deserves this investment, the GAA deserves this investment , the focus should be on making it an economic success , and those that have stomped up £172m clearly think it can be.
This is more than a GAA stadium , it's the only venue that can host large concerts, soccer rugby NFL and GAA matches, and it's in a deprived area that needs investment , so it's not just £172m into GAA coffers . It's an opportunity for this region to have its own marquee venue.
Much as government and other funders should not invest , if there isn't long term social and economic benefit, the GAA should not be
Taking more money off their members unless they see a return , rather than a millstone , for a large stadium that is not socially and economically a success.
I suspect the fear of that socio-economic success for the GAA and West Belfast is what drives many objectors , rather than a fear it will cost the economy  .

[twohands!!!]

I don't understand how anyone can think this new stadium is just gonna magically fall out of the money tree. It will consume millions of the GAA's revenue for years to come. That means less coaches for underage teams, increased ticket prices, fewer development grants for clubs, dilapidated county grounds because there's no money to repair or replace them.

A 250 mil Casement is a financial millstone that will weigh around the neck of every club in Ulster for years and years and years. And the only f**king reason you and illdecide can come up with for building it is "to stick it to the f**king Prods".

I actually had the thought yesterday that if Unionists in Stormont were smart they would actually agree to a deal to cover a significant chunk of the funding shortfall - if they gave enough that it would basically give the GAA no choice but to make up the rest of the shortfall ,which would mean the GAA would be forced to overextend itself financially which would likely end up doing significant damage to the long-term finances of the GAA as a whole. My only consolation is that they aren't smart enough to manage a move like this.

[illdecide]

Completely agree, get it built if GAA members were asked to contribute £1 each to make up the short fall I'm sure they would do it in a heart beat. The GAA community in the north need this stadium and they needed it yesterday.

I for one would not even contribute the steam off my piss.
If it goes ahead as planned, its hanging a massive millstone around the neck of the Ulster Council (UC) for decades, and that will have real connotations for UC coaching development etc.


When the ongoing maintenance costs of the ivory towers becomes clear in due course, the level of stupidity in calling for this stadium as currently designed will also become crystal clear.



I'd much rather put my money into any club looking to make a second pitch or changing rooms - something of far more benefit.

Unreal.....can you not see past the nose on your face, future generations should have this stadium.
The great days of going to Clones on Ulster final day are a thing of the past, and live only in our heads.
Why can we not have a stadium where you can get the same feeling of pride walking into it as you do when going into Croke Park and its only up the road.

I don't understand how anyone can think this new stadium is just gonna magically fall out of the money tree. It will consume millions of the GAA's revenue for years to come. That means less coaches for underage teams, increased ticket prices, fewer development grants for clubs, dilapidated county grounds because there's no money to repair or replace them.

A 250 mil Casement is a financial millstone that will weigh around the neck of every club in Ulster for years and years and years. And the only f**king reason you and illdecide can come up with for building it is "to stick it to the f**king Prods".

LOL away and catch yourself on.

You'll be happy enough when Ulster GAA send your club a bill for 180,000?

You sir are talking sh1te. I'm not sticking nothing up to the Prods, I keep posting it's being blocked because it's for the GAA and the Unionist/Loyalist community would rather die than see this stadium built, that's a fact. I can't see what's wrong with making a factual statement like that. I've said many times if this scenario was Windsor Park or Ravenhill it would have been already built (The GAA didn't cover themselves in glory with this either). That's my opinion and you're entitled to yours...Sin e.
Ohh and why would you think the Ulster Council would bill every club for that money?. I'm hoping you were taking the P155

[smelmoth]

I would imagine that the project team have fleshed out every angle of the "large concerts, soccer, rugby, NFL and GAA". It may not amount to that much.

Peak attendance drive the specification but its average audiences that make the thing viable. How many games will Antrim play in it and what sort of crowds/ticket revues will they pull in over say 30 years?

How many concerts will Casement actually get? I fear the answer might be none unless we get some Irish country "star". And any talk of that is likely to create a spike in local objections.

NFL coming to Ireland but not one of the 2 large Dublin stadia is a low probability play. I'm calling it as a zero probability play.

Rugby. That's possible but it would need a serious upturn in Ulster's fortunes (and some commercial agreement) or the IRFU to turn down the revenue spinner of say an autumn international against a 2nd tier nation in Dublin or another rugby stadium. We should definitely be aiming for these but their incremental impact maybe small.

And then there is the GAA. It has the power to drive games with large attendances to Belfast. How many would depend on the championship structure and the teams involved.

Fundamentally the stadium is in the wrong place but there is money on the table that is specific to that site so I think we are in the build what we can afford stage of this debacle.

[smelmoth]

I don't understand how anyone can think this new stadium is just gonna magically fall out of the money tree. It will consume millions of the GAA's revenue for years to come. That means less coaches for underage teams, increased ticket prices, fewer development grants for clubs, dilapidated county grounds because there's no money to repair or replace them.

A 250 mil Casement is a financial millstone that will weigh around the neck of every club in Ulster for years and years and years. And the only f**king reason you and illdecide can come up with for building it is "to stick it to the f**king Prods".

I actually had the thought yesterday that if Unionists in Stormont were smart they would actually agree to a deal to cover a significant chunk of the funding shortfall - if they gave enough that it would basically give the GAA no choice but to make up the rest of the shortfall ,which would mean the GAA would be forced to overextend itself financially which would likely end up doing significant damage to the long-term finances of the GAA as a whole. My only consolation is that they aren't smart enough to manage a move like this.

But you hit on the very valid point that the average unionist wakes up everyday thinking about how to get one in the eye of the GAA.

[red hander]

I don't understand how anyone can think this new stadium is just gonna magically fall out of the money tree. It will consume millions of the GAA's revenue for years to come. That means less coaches for underage teams, increased ticket prices, fewer development grants for clubs, dilapidated county grounds because there's no money to repair or replace them.

A 250 mil Casement is a financial millstone that will weigh around the neck of every club in Ulster for years and years and years. And the only f**king reason you and illdecide can come up with for building it is "to stick it to the f**king Prods".

I actually had the thought yesterday that if Unionists in Stormont were smart they would actually agree to a deal to cover a significant chunk of the funding shortfall - if they gave enough that it would basically give the GAA no choice but to make up the rest of the shortfall ,which would mean the GAA would be forced to overextend itself financially which would likely end up doing significant damage to the long-term finances of the GAA as a whole. My only consolation is that they aren't smart enough to manage a move like this.

But you hit on the very valid point that the average unionist wakes up everyday thinking about how to get one in the eye of the GAA.

There always whining on about 'making this place work's but can't help themselves trying to rub our noses in the shit. They're too f**king stupid to not only realise how this damages their case, they're too f**king stupid to realise that ship sailed in 1969.

[trileacman]

Completely agree, get it built if GAA members were asked to contribute £1 each to make up the short fall I'm sure they would do it in a heart beat. The GAA community in the north need this stadium and they needed it yesterday.

I for one would not even contribute the steam off my piss.
If it goes ahead as planned, its hanging a massive millstone around the neck of the Ulster Council (UC) for decades, and that will have real connotations for UC coaching development etc.


When the ongoing maintenance costs of the ivory towers becomes clear in due course, the level of stupidity in calling for this stadium as currently designed will also become crystal clear.



I'd much rather put my money into any club looking to make a second pitch or changing rooms - something of far more benefit.

Unreal.....can you not see past the nose on your face, future generations should have this stadium.
The great days of going to Clones on Ulster final day are a thing of the past, and live only in our heads.
Why can we not have a stadium where you can get the same feeling of pride walking into it as you do when going into Croke Park and its only up the road.

Why can I not have a private jet? I'd be proud as punch if I had one of those.

So now we're comparing an environmentally toxic toy for a billionaire , to a project that will bring jobs and investment to a socially deprived and chronically underfunded area, with a £172m head start . It will be an opportunity for the North to have a multi sports,recreation and concert venue that gives us something to feel good about, for once.
Given that uk and stormont government are investing monies and saying we may have to scale back, presumably they can help streamline the planning process, given that the changes are going to be less intrusive for the locals .
Presumably with that level of funding they'll have significant input into design and procurement to ensure value for that money.
If I had a choice between stretching GAA coffers for a 34500 all seater stadium , or a 28000 seater/terraced , cost effective ,sustainable , daily usage venue that is designed to provide income, investment and opportunity, i'd take the latter all day long . The GAA has precedent in the Croke Park success , and those that get the boot into the GAA should look to the success of Croke Park , and running functional ~20000 capacity stadia in almost every county in Ireland . In Ulster alone ,provincial towns with poor infrastructure : Omagh , Derry , newry EnnisKillen Armagh Cavan ballybofey and Clones , have successful stadia,  yet people think the GAA can't run a slightly bigger stadium in the second biggest city in Ireland , with a £172m head start.

West Belfast deserves this investment, the GAA deserves this investment , the focus should be on making it an economic success , and those that have stomped up £172m clearly think it can be.
This is more than a GAA stadium , it's the only venue that can host large concerts, soccer rugby NFL and GAA matches, and it's in a deprived area that needs investment , so it's not just £172m into GAA coffers . It's an opportunity for this region to have its own marquee venue.
Much as government and other funders should not invest , if there isn't long term social and economic benefit, the GAA should not be
Taking more money off their members unless they see a return , rather than a millstone , for a large stadium that is not socially and economically a success.
I suspect the fear of that socio-economic success for the GAA and West Belfast is what drives many objectors , rather than a fear it will cost the economy  .

Can anyone show me the evidence where a stadium, filled once a year, drove "socio-economic" success? Has PUC brought major economic success to south Cork? Limericks Gaelic grounds? McHale Park?

Anfield, Croke Park and Old Trafford, much more regularly filled stadia have existed in deprived areas for decades. None of these 3 have led to any substantial improvement in the surrounding areas.

"Omagh , Derry , newry EnnisKillen Armagh Cavan ballybofey and Clones , have successful stadia,"

Successful because they aren't a financial millstone and can sit empty for 95% of the year. None of those stadia took more than 5 million to build/redevelop, Omagh 2 million, Armagh 4.8 million. How can you not see that spending 50 times that on a stadium located at the far end of Ulster will be a noose around the GAAs neck?

PUC in cork hasn't hosted a concert since 2022 and won't host any this year. It's now June and the next time it will be more than half filled will probably be next May when the Munster Championship rolls around again. The amount of concerts Casement would host would be next to negligible.

Ireland has hosted zero NFL matches and Casement will almost certainly never host one. The IFA and Ulster rugby crowd are very unlikely to ever play a game on the Falls road and in a stadium named after Roger Casement. And even if they did who in the GAA would want that? Are we really going to sink ourselves in debt so that NI can blast God save the King out over the tannoy at Casement Park? To our eyes in debt so 10000 Linfield or Glentoran fans can pile in for a Europa league game? Why would the GAA finance and build a 34,000 seater stadium for Rugby and soccer to fill more often than GAA?

[trileacman]

why would you think the Ulster Council would bill every club for that money?. I'm hoping you were taking the P155

Where else are Ulster GAA going to get 100million+ except from GAA patrons? Where do you think it's going to come from?

[trileacman]

You sir are talking sh1te. I'm not sticking nothing up to the Prods, I keep posting it's being blocked because it's for the GAA and the Unionist/Loyalist community would rather die than see this stadium built, that's a fact. I can't see what's wrong with making a factual statement like that. I've said many times if this scenario was Windsor Park or Ravenhill it would have been already built (The GAA didn't cover themselves in glory with this either). That's my opinion and you're entitled to yours...Sin e.
Ohh and why would you think the Ulster Council would bill every club for that money?. I'm hoping you were taking the P155

Can you show me exactly where the Prods blocked Casement previously? Like specifically where it was ready to happen and didn't because of themmuns? Stormont (including the unionists) green lighted the funding including giving the GAA a share that was almost double what the IFA and IRFU got. The local residents blocked the planning and it fell through. Then it turned out the GAAs plans were unsafe and didn't pass HandS. By the time Mark Durkan of the SDLP bulldozed the new plans through Stormont had collapsed and the funding was on hiatus. Instead of drawing up a revised sensible plan that could proceed as soon as Stormont got off the ground, the GAA stuck to a stadium plan that they don't have any money for.

[gallsman]

Ah lads would ever f**k off with chat about Casement hosting NFL games. Has this ever been a suggestion from anyone with the slightest degree of credibility?!

[Evil Genius]

I actually had the thought yesterday that if Unionists in Stormont were smart they would actually agree to a deal to cover a significant chunk of the funding shortfall - if they gave enough that it would basically give the GAA no choice but to make up the rest of the shortfall ,which would mean the GAA would be forced to overextend itself financially which would likely end up doing significant damage to the long-term finances of the GAA as a whole. My only consolation is that they aren't smart enough to manage a move like this.

Sorry, but you really need to rein in your imagination.

Stormont/DUP etc aren't going to play this sort of game simply in the hope that the GAA might over-extend itself financially, esp if it means themselves finding an extra chunk of money from budgets which are already desperately over-extended.

What they need to say to the GAA is:
"You've got your £62m as promised, you've got an extra £50m from HMG, you've got £43m from Dublin, you've got some money of your own to add (£15m? More?), now go away and build a stadium with that, and allow us to get on with the job we're supposed to be doing. Oh and if you're not sure about the 'building a stadium for the money' bit, there's a fella called Scott here who can advise"
https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/gaa-could-have-very-presentable-stadium-if-work-was-to-now-begin-on-casement-park-with-the-money-they-have-5BXEEXT2M5EC3D2VXKUF54XMWA/

[Rossfan]

If Louth can build can 6k stand, floodlights, dressing rooms, ancillaries for €24m, surely to God Casement with about 9 times that amount can build a decent stadium that will more than suffice.
Stop fkn blathering and moaning, get it out to tender, appoint a contractor and BUILD!!