Northern Ireland cannot currently support a joint UK and Ireland bid to host the 2028 European Championships football tournament, a Stormont minister has said.
DUP Economy Minister Gordon Lyons said the lack of a properly functioning powersharing Executive and agreed budget means the region cannot provide the “in principle” support to the bid that has been offered by England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.
Mr Lyons’s own party collapsed the Executive last month by withdrawing First Minister Paul Givan from the administration in protest against Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol - trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between the region and the rest of the UK.
