The GAA have reiterated that they will not be increasing their contribution of £15M towards the cost of the redevelopment of Casement Park.
Writing in his annual report the GAA’s Director General, Tom Ryan, expressed his hope that work on the project would commence as soon as possible.
However, he stressed that the association would not be prepared to contribute more than the £15m they’ve already agreed to despite the cost of the final build soaring following multiple delays and legal challenges.
Read more: Casement Park redevelopment costs expected to have "increased exponentially" warns Ulster GAA chief
Under the original funding model, the cost of the new stadium was estimated at £77.5 million with £62.5m coming from local government with the GAA contributing £15m.
Now, the GAA have estimated that the final cost could be as much as £140m and there’s great uncertainty about who will make up the shortfall.
“Full planning permission for Casement Park was granted during the year and I hope that the way will shortly become clear for works to commence,” Ryan stated in his annual report which was published on Thursday.
“Inflationary movement since the original plan was conceived puts the estimated stadium development costs somewhere between £120m and £140m.
“We have reached full provision for our contracted commitment to the project of £15m. Our investment cannot exceed this amount.
“However the final funding agreement with the British Government Department of Culture Arts and Leisure remains to be finalised.”
The GAA’s Director General added that new funding options will need to be sought for future stadium developments and suggested that loans is one alternative that could be considered for projects such as Casement.
“Current and anticipated levels of building costs and land acquisition costs mean that our traditional approach to funding large scale projects will rapidly become obsolete,” stated Ryan.
“We simply will not be able to generate sufficient levels of reserves each year and so some new thinking is required.
“We plan to explore alternative long-term funding options in 2023 including centralised lines of loan credit.
“Currently contemplated projects such as Walsh Park, St Conleth's Park, Páirc Tailteann, Casement Park and Gaelic Park in New York, will take priority here.”
Despite the continued uncertainty surrounding finding of the project, Casement Park has been included as one of the 14 stadiums in the bid dossier to host Euro 2028 - a joint venture between the English FA, Scottish FA, Welsh FA and the IFA and FAI.
Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium in Dublin are also included with the final shortlist reduced to 10 next April.
Yet, the absence of an Executive at Stormont continues to cast doubt, not just on the viability of Casement Park being included in the Euro 2028 bid, but also on the completion of the project itself.
The GAA are optimistic that, allowing for a two-year build, the first games could take place by the end of the 2025 season and that Casement would be ready to host a full schedule of Gaelic Games in 2026.
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