GAA remain Committed to development of Casement Park

Ulster GAA, the Central Council of the GAA and Antrim GAA remain firmly committed to the development of a new Provincial GAA Stadium at Casement Park, Belfast. The Project Board is continuing to work closely with the planning and delivery teams to prepare a revised scheme for the Casement Park Stadium that will:

• Develop and deliver a world class stadium in Belfast for the GAA
• Enhance the local Community that the new Casement Park will serve
• Deliver a facility suitable for hosting Club, County, Provincial and National fixtures
• Contribute to the economic and social development of Belfast and Ulster

The GAA will be in a position to commence public and community consultation on our new proposals in early 2016. Another comprehensive engagement process will be undertaken and following consideration of the results and feedback we will prepare and submit a revised proposal. In the coming days there will be some site activity in Casement Park relating to both the security and presentation of the site.

In the interim the Project Board will again in an open and transparent manner engage with all stakeholders to progress the new Casement Park which will include the GAA membership at all levels, local residents, local community groups, elected representatives and government departments. We have already had an initial and positive engagement with the Chairman of the Safety Technical Group.

Significant work has been undertaken on various fronts over the last year and the GAA can now confirm that in direct response to the recommendations set out for its Project Board in the Cabinet Office Project Assessment Report (PAR) released in August that it has implemented all of the critical recommendations for the Casement Park project.

We have added two additional experienced, competent and highly respected individuals namely Professor John Cole and Michael McGuckin as independent members of the Project Board. Rory Miskelly has also been added to the GAA’s delivery structure as Project Director. With his programme experience previously in DCAL and direct delivery experience at Kingspan Ravenhill Stadium, he will bring extensive construction expertise; project planning, delivery and commissioning experience to complement the existing GAA delivery team. The GAA deferred its plans to make such an appointment in late 2014 when it was prevented from proceeding with site works and stadium construction due to Judicial Review proceedings against the Minister for the Environment. These appointments are additional to the existing GAA personnel involved in the Project.

These initiatives and appointments will assist us in achieving our long stated ambitions for Casement Park. In the coming weeks the GAA will make a further announcement on the timeline for the commencement of the Community Consultation and Engagement process.