WEST Belfast MLAs have clashed in the Stormont chamber during a debate on future revenue generated from a redeveloped Casement Park.
As demolition work continued on the GAA stadium on Tuesday, MLAs voted against a motion to allow Stormont to “clawback” revenue from non-GAA events at a redeveloped Casement Park.
TUV MLA Timothy Gaston tabled the motion and told the chamber that he had “profound issues” with the GAA, adding that “you will never see me in the stands” if the stadium is eventually built. He told members that “clawback is a standard tool of public finance”.
Proposing an amendment that “legally enforceable clawback mechanism be put in place to return an agreed proportion of net revenues from all non-sporting events to the public purse”, West Belfast MLA Gerry Carroll added that he “may be the only Member in the House who is a member of Casement Social Club”.
In a debate which lasted an hour-and-a-half and was at times heated, the People Before Profit MLA said: “Casement Park lies empty because of the disaster that surrounded it and the politics that dominate this place.
“It is also empty because of the greed that has been shown by the upper echelons of Ulster GAA and by Sinn Féin, who wanted to drive ahead with a 40,000-, 38,000- or 34,000-seater stadium, regardless of what people in the area thought or how they would be impacted on. It is telling that, although a key pillar of Sinn Féin's strategy for the North has been Casement Park, it has been unable to lay a brick there, despite holding the posts of Finance Minister, Economy Minister and First Minister, and having a junior Minister.
“Residents of Mooreland, Owenvarragh, Stockmans and the wider Andersonstown area raised concerns about the size and scale of the development that was going to be on their doorstep, and they were denigrated for it; they were called anti-GAA and told to suck it up. I pay tribute to those residents and to the work that they have done not just for their community, which is my community, but for every single one of us.”
When Mr Carroll argued that the GAA should have planned for a smaller stadium, Sinn Féin MLA for West Belfast Danny Baker intervened.
“Should the GAA and West Belfast not be ambitious and want to have the very best delivered for Casement Park and West Belfast?” he asked.
“We could have had the Euros. We could have had something magnificent that would have brought so many people to this wee part of the world, but we fell short of that. You sound almost like Timothy [Gaston]. You are running down West Belfast, Gerry, and it is ridiculous to listen to.”
Responding, Mr Carroll said: "I will not take lectures from the Member opposite or his party, who ignore residents and their concerns and repeat the mantra of anti-GAA to people who live in West Belfast. It is ridiculous and not true.”
He added: “My concern, though, with the motion — hence the amendment — is that it singles out the GAA exclusively. My amendment outlines that the same should apply to all stadiums that receive public funding.”
Clearance work is continuing at Casement Park this week
West Belfast Sinn Féin MLA Aisling Reilly said that there was no mention in the motion of claiming money back from other stadiums which “have hosted or could host outside the sport they were built for”.
She said: “The amendment, to be honest, is disappointing, because the Member for West Belfast [Mr Carroll] knows and has seen at first hand the transformative power and the benefits of the GAA from club level up.
“Casement Park will be more than a stadium. It will be a catalyst for regeneration, a driver of opportunity and a symbol of equality in investment. Casement Park must be afforded the very same respect as other stadia. Equality means equality: nothing more, nothing less. We will not support the motion, nor will we support the amendment.”
Later during the debate, Aisling Reilly asked Gerry Carroll: “Does the Member not agree that there will be an economic benefit and impact, particularly for the businesses around West Belfast, from the footfall? We should be ambitious as elected representatives for West Belfast. We want to see the most investment possible going into our small part of the world.”
Gerry Carroll replied: “I agree with the Member on that. The point that I am making is about the types of jobs: will they be in the service industry and hospitality, where people are usually underpaid and often in non-unionised positions? That point stands, although the Member made valid points.”
The motion and the amendment were defeated by 31 votes to 46 with Sinn Féin, SDLP and Alliance voting against.
