THE TUV say changing the name of Casement Park to honour a member of the British royal family could lead to work finally beginning on the much-stalled reconstruction project.
And going by Andersonstown residents we talked to yesterday outside the derelict stadium, there's a surprising amount of sympathy for the idea, such is the level of frustration with the long years of delay and confusion.
In a statement issued last night, the hardline unionist party said the chill factor in having the stadium named after a republican icon was the single greatest obstacle in the way of the multi-million stadium finally hosting games again. A TUV insider said that while there remains widespread concern within the party about the cost of the project, a new generation of TUV members have reconciled themselves to the fact the stadium will be built and have decided that extracting a political win is better than yet another defeat for unionism.
"Our long-stated objections to the new stadium remain," the TUV say in their statement, "but at the same time we can see an opportunity here for the GAA to realise that the days of naming stadiums after violent republicans must come to an end. While we believe that renaming the stadium in honour of a member of the royal family would be the best way to break down the barriers standing in the way of reconstruction, we are open to other suggestions that don't glorify violence – British military icons from the past, for example."
The GAA declined to comment last night, but an Antrim County Board source told us that nothing is off the table, and while a lot of work needs to be done to persuade the Antrim GAA family to consider the idea of Casement being replaced by a British royal, the idea demands consideration.
"If King Charles can have a bit of craic with Michelle O'Neill then I suppose anything's possible," our source said. "It'll take a bit of work to persuade the GAA traditionalists, but if we've got the Royal Victoria Hospital nearby it's fair to say that the precedent has already been set."
On the Andersonstown Road yesterday, locals going about their business were surprised by the TUV suggestion, but, intriguingly, none refused to rule the idea out.
DERELICT: Frustration is growing over continued hold-ups in the reconstruction of Casement Park 
"If the entire city centre can be named after British royals and soldiers, why can't we have the odd one here too?" asked one man.
A woman who said her family have been involved in the GAA for generations said a little imagination could go a long way.
"There's thousand of them we haven't even heard of," she said, "if we called it the Flora Poli Stadium nobody would have a clue, even though she's Beatrice's daughter and, like, third in line to the throne or something."
"Andrew's a deal-breaker," said another woman. "I'd be a bit concerned about calling a new state-of-the-art stadium after the world's most famous nonce, and given the TUV's many tributes to Davy Tweed, I'd need to hear them ruling that out."
No-one from Sinn Féin or the SDLP was available for comment, but insiders from both parties said the idea would not be dismissed out of hand.
"There's no getting away from the fact that Charles and Michelle get on like a house on fire," said a senior Sinn Féin figure. "And, let's be honest – he blanked Jeffrey Donaldson at Hillsborough Castle for her, and that's always going to be in his favour."
An SDLP MLA said: "Half our older members are in the Lords or have MBEs anyway, so the TUV's pushing at an open door there."
