The Northern Secretary has warned it will be “really, really difficult” to build Casement Park in time for Euro 2028 matches to be held in Belfast.
Hilary Benn struck a cautious note on Thursday when speaking to reporters in Derry, saying “time is running out” and there was a “big gap between the funds that have been committed currently and what would be required, because the cost has continued to escalate”.
He would not be drawn on the current estimate for the rebuilding of the derelict GAA stadium in west Belfast, which could play host to five matches in the European football tournament if it was ready in time.
But with funding still not in place, hopes are fading that the project can be completed in time to meet Uefa’s deadline, which specifies the ground must be ready a year before the competition begins.
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He said it was “those two questions”, cost and time, “that we are looking at urgently, I can’t tell you what the outcome will be to that”.
“We of course want to bring the Euros to Northern Ireland, that’s why Casement Park was part of the bid that the UK put in as part of the joint UK-Irish bid to host the Euros, but it’s a very practical question.
“Can you raise sufficient funds, and that will of course have to include a contribution from the UK government, but even if you can raise the funds, can you build it in time?
“That is June of 2027, and that is really very difficult, whether there’s any flexibility on the part of Uefa we will have to see, but we’re working hard on it,” he said.
The Northern Secretary was also asked about comments by the former police ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, who said earlier on Thursday that the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) should be replaced with a new body with full investigative powers.
The ICRIR was set up as part of the controversial Troubles Legacy Act, which the new Labour government has committed to repeal, but it has indicated it intends to retain the ICRIR if it can command the support of bereaved families.
Mr Benn said he had “made it clear I am not going to scrap it, and the reason is, because if you started again, you’d end up with something that would look, frankly, much the same”.
He said he had “great confidence” in the chief commissioner of the ICRIR, Declan Morgan, and he was “absolutely determined to carry out a process that is compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights”.
“I would ask people just to put on one side what the motivation was from the last government in putting the Legacy Act in place and judge what I’m saying that we intend to do on its merits.”
On Thursday the ICRIR released polling and focus group data which showed 63 per cent of respondents in Northern Ireland believed it was unlikely to achieve reconciliation.
“With the government’s clarity about repeal of conditional immunity and confirmation that the commission will continue, it is now on us to demonstrate that our approach can deliver results to victims, families and survivors,” Mr Morgan said.
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