THE long-awaited Casement Park redevelopment project has taken a mammoth step forward as planning approval for the West Belfast stadium was granted this morning.
Department for Infrastructure Minster Nichola Mallon said she had “carefully considered” all of the representations and that it had been a “complex application”.
“I believe it will be truly transformational in sporting terms and economic terms for the whole of Ulster,” she said.
West Belfast MP Paul Maskey who has been championing the redevelopment for the past nine years told the Andersonstown News that it was a “great day for Gaels, for West Belfast and the city as a whole”.
STATE-OF-THE-ART: How the new Casement Park will look
“Planning approval has now been approved so it will be a matter of securing finance and I will be meeting with the Department for Communities (DfC) and Department of Finance (DoF). This project will breathe massive life into the Andersonstown Road, into West Belfast. Some of us have worked on this for many, many years to get to this day,” he said.
Planning approval has now been approved so it will be a matter of securing finance and I will be meeting with the Department for Communities (DfC) and Department of Finance (DoF). This project will breathe massive life into the Andersonstown Road, into West Belfast. Some of us have worked on this for many, many years to get to this day.”
The new stadium has a proposed capacity of 34,578 – down from the GAA’s original plan of 38,000.
“We do need to get the additional finance for this stadium and I have been a great believer in the Casement Park development. I have been meeting with planners for several years, with Ulster GAA and we are at a point now were planning has been approved," added Mr Maskey.
"This will regenerate this part of West Belfast; it will bring jobs and will assist all the local business in that area. This is a great news story and I look forward to some day soon standing in Casement Park watching games being played again.”
