Former Labour sports minister and peer Baroness Kate Hoey has said funding Casement Park will “sour Labour’s relationship” with Northern Ireland, amid reports Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has backed the £300 million plan for the stadium to host the Euros in 2028.
Writing in The Times, Baroness Hoey also hit out at Labour’s chief of staff Sue Gray, who has been accused of pushing for the west Belfast stadium’s funding.
Ms Gray is a former Stormont civil servant who previously ran a bar in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.
“In a week in which the chancellor stated that the United Kingdom’s financial situation was so dire that infrastructure schemes across the country were being axed, the prime minister was reported as having told Uefa that he was keen to have the west Belfast Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) stadium Casement Park rebuilt in time to host matches at Euro 2028,” wrote Baroness Hoey.
“This comes a few days after another report that the prime minister’s chief of staff, Sue Gray, had taken a special interest in what is essentially a Republican demand for some £300 million to be pumped into a privately owned sportsground that will host no football games after the Euros.
“It is ten months since the announcement that Euro 28 would be hosted jointly by the football associations of the UK and Ireland, and that Casement Park in Northern Ireland would host five matches.”
Earlier this week, it was reported Uefa sources said Sir Keir and his Labour government are keen to redevelop the site and have told senior figures in the European football governing body of their intentions.
The cost of the stadium bailout has soared since the plan was first mooted, going from a starting point of £73m to a top estimate of just over £300m.
“So most people find it perplexing and concerning that the self-confessed priority of the new Labour government should be spending hundreds of millions on Casement — not to the original specification and standard agreed as part of a balanced package but a much enhanced stadium with all the extra requirements from Uefa,” added Baroness Hoey.
“About 8,000 seats are to be included in the stadium build, only to be ripped out once the Euros end.
“The IFA (the governing body for Northern Ireland football) primarily in the shape of their chief executive entered into the agreement to host 2028 with little support from fans of the national team.
“The costs were said to be around £110 million but now with no contractor in place, estimates are £300 million-plus. This excludes policing costs which will amount to a minimum of £17 million, as reported to the Policing Board this week.”
She added that it’s “astonishing that Sir Keir Starmer, who knows Northern Ireland well, having worked as a consultant to its police service, has joined a campaign led by many who have never ever been to a Northern Ireland international and have no interest in the game.”
“Not only is it financially irresponsible but amounts to clearly prioritising the political demands of one section of the community.
“The unfairness of millions extra going to the GAA will not just be perceived as being unfair, it will sour relations with the many loyal Northern Ireland citizens who genuinely wished Labour well.”