Casement Park: Spending Review

Question

15:27:00

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what criteria they used in deciding to contribute £50 million to redevelop Casement Park in Belfast under the Spending Review.

My Lords, before I answer the substantive Question, noble Lords will have seen on the news this morning the heartbreaking reports of a shooting in Fermanagh. My thoughts and prayers and those of the Government are with everyone touched by this heartbreak. This Government want to support the Northern Ireland Executive with their plans for building world-class infrastructure in Northern Ireland across all sporting codes. That is why we are providing up to £50 million of capital funding to the Executive to support the redevelopment of Casement Park. It is now a matter for the Executive to decide what level of funding they will provide, and to work with other partners to fulfil the long-standing commitment to redevelop Casement Park.

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her remarks about Enniskillen and for her Answer. She must realise that back in 2011 football, rugby and Gaelic got similar amounts from the Northern Ireland Executive to develop their stadiums. Football and rugby did theirs, but Gaelic did not. Casement sat empty for years. That was not football’s fault or anyone else in government’s fault either. Given the importance of equal treatment for communities in Northern Ireland, will the Government, having given this £50 million to the GAA, now recognise that football, which is a cross-community sport—Gaelic is not—deserves the same Exchequer funding? Does the noble Baroness realise that people who opposed it in Northern Ireland—British citizens—remember that Casement Park is named after an anti-British gunrunner who was tried for treason in the same month that 3,000 Ulstermen gave their lives for the UK at the Battle of the Somme? Is it any wonder that British citizens were opposed? If the Government are giving this £50 million, will they ensure that equal funding is given to the IFA, which deserves it just as much?

The noble Baroness raises what is at the heart of this: in 2011 the last Government allocated £14.7 million of funding for the redevelopment of Ravenhill rugby stadium, £25.2 million for the redevelopment of Windsor Park, £61.5 million for Casement and £36 million for subregional stadia funds. All the projects have been delivered except Casement; the money was not spent. This is delivering on the promises that were made. We have been very clear that we have put forward £50 million. The current projected cost of the redevelopment is £170 million. It is now a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive to bring together partners to deliver the rest of the money.

My Lords, I convey my sympathies to the people of Maguiresbridge in Fermanagh and to the families of the victims this morning. On behalf of the GAA, and on my own behalf, I thank the Government for the £50 million contribution towards the construction of Casement Park. It is long awaited and I hope it will be built. What discussions have taken place, or what ongoing discussions are taking place, with the Northern Ireland Executive and the Communities Minister, who I understand is preparing a paper on Casement Park to take to the Executive that, I hope, will be productive and positive and result in the full allocation of funding to enable the building of Casement Park for provincial Gaelic games in the province of Ulster?

I thank my noble friend. I am very aware of her personal support for the GAA and the sport. To reassure her, there is now an official-level working group between the NIO and the Northern Ireland Executive to try to deliver on Casement Park. The Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for the delivery of this project. We are working very closely with Minister Lyons to give him the support that he needs. It is now a matter of bringing together and delivering the project while it still can be delivered.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her acknowledgement of the absolutely horrific tragedy this morning in my neighbouring village of Maguiresbridge, which is in my former constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone. I send my deepest condolences to the family; I know this will have a huge impact right across the region. Given that His Majesty’s Government are granting £50 million to the GAA for the redevelopment of Casement Park, will the Government seek to open a dialogue or discussion with the GAA in relation to its continued glorification of terrorism? In particular, the west Belfast festival is holding a children’s competition named after Joe Cahill, the self-declared leader of the IRA in Belfast. Where does that sit with the Government’s criteria for giving grants?

The noble Baroness will be aware that the Arts Council has pulled funding from the festival. The Government believe in the power of sport to bring people together and our focus is on supporting activities that unite communities across Northern Ireland, not those that divide it. On the glorification of terrorism, prosecutions are obviously an operational matter for the PSNI, but let us be very clear: community events should be about uniting the community, and we need to make sure that is the case. Yesterday I had the genuine privilege of spending some time with footballers from a youth leadership programme called Beyond the Ball, which is supported by the Rio Ferdinand Foundation. These footballers are from the Republic and from Northern Ireland, yet they came over here to play football together against young people from Camberwell. I think they were surprised at the somewhat challenging community tensions that can exist between Arsenal and Spurs, both of which they visited yesterday, so this can happen across the piece. While I am talking about football, I just want to say good luck to the Lionesses on Sunday.

My Lords, from these Benches I add our thoughts and condolences to the families and friends of those killed and injured in the shootings this morning in Fermanagh. As the Minister said, sport can play a very positive role in building community cohesion and bringing communities together. In this regard, does the Minister agree with me that the Belfast Giants ice hockey team have given a positive example of bringing people together from all communities in Northern Ireland?

My Lords, my officials told me to say, “Let’s go, Giants”, so for them, at the end of term, I say, “Let’s go, Giants”. The noble Baroness is absolutely right. My good friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when he met his hero Pat Jennings on Thursday, said: “Sport has this extraordinary capacity to bring people together to give joy and to unite people and it can’t be something that divides us”. Belfast Giants have gone out of their way to make sure that they are cross-community and work genuinely for sport, through sport. That is exactly what we should deliver, not just in Northern Ireland but across the country.

My Lords, I commend the Minister on her remarks at the beginning. As a former representative of the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly, I agree with her about the horrendous incident this morning. We extend our sympathy to all those involved and wish them a speedy recovery. It is a real tragedy. I commend the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, on her Question, as it presents an opportunity to bring some clarity as to why the GAA finds itself in this position. The fact that this development has not happened is not due to any negligence or reluctance on the part of the Executive or Assembly at Stormont but rather due to strong opposition from the nationalist community who reside in close proximity to the proposed development. Does the Minister agree with me that funding for all sports must be distributed in a fair and equitable manner?

I absolutely do agree with the noble Lord. Sport is incredibly important to each and every one of us—in different ways with different sports—but we need to make sure that delivery of both funding and our commitment to sport is based on the sport and people’s engagement with it.

My Lords, having attended a GAA match at Celtic Park in the Bogside in Londonderry last April, I am fully aware of the importance of Gaelic games for large numbers in the community in Northern Ireland. I also understand the strong emotions generated by Casement Park for others, not least given what happened there in March 1988. Further to the question by my noble friend Lady Foster of Aghadrumsee, on this side we share the dismay expressed about the naming of GAA stadiums, stands and even competitions after terrorists such as Joe Cahill, an IRA godfather of many decades who was convicted for murder and who undoubtedly oversaw the murder of many others. What assessment have the Government made of the impact that this has on community relations across Northern Ireland and on impressionable young children? Does the Minister agree that if Northern Ireland is to have a genuinely shared future in which all parts of the community have a stake, this kind of thing really has to stop?

The noble Lord makes a genuinely important point about how sport should be used as a vehicle for bringing people together. There is a responsibility for the UK Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, and all local politicians and local community activists to make sure that is true.