Exactly five months ago, the deputy leader of the DUP, Gavin Robinson, issued a press release welcoming £63 million of public money being spent on renovating the Ice Bowl in the Dundonald area of east Belfast.
In that statement, he lauded the original construction of the ice rink as “an example of far-sighted decision making” that delivered a facility drawing visitors from across the north. Robinson also cited the fact that the venue had hosted concerts involving Bob Dylan and Van Morrison during its almost 40 years of existence as part-justification for allocating the cash to this project.
Fast forward to January 31 2024, when the Tory party and DUP collaborated to publish a Safeguarding the Union document with tone and content deliberately antagonistic towards nationalists in the hope it would provide cover for Jeffrey Donaldson’s U-turn over the Irish Sea border.
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A ‘supporting sporting and cultural links’ section was included in the document, which explicitly referenced an “Executive priority commitment of £36.2 million for the Sub-Regional Football Stadia Strategy”, stating that this would be “a vital component of the grassroots legacy of EURO28″.
Crucially, the DUP and British Conservative Party as authors went on to reference a £302 million UK-wide grassroots football fund with a stated commitment that a UK government sports minister would visit the north within a month of the executive being formed to discuss with ministers “how to take forward the prompt and effective delivery of the Sub-Regional Football Stadia Strategy” and to consider other soccer projects here that could be funded from within the aforementioned £302m funding pot.
Last week, whilst the red, white and blue ink on the Safeguarding the Union document had yet to fully dry, Jeffrey Donaldson issued a clearly hostile press statement in the aftermath of the Irish government publicly committing more than £42m to the Casement Park project. Donaldson claimed that his party “cannot see how significant additional UK taxpayer resources will be available at a time when other vital public services are in need of additional resource and capital allocations”.
In addition to being a truly magnificent home for Gaelic Games, helping to realise a dream and motivate generations of players and children, the new stadium can be a significant economic game changer for Belfast and the north
In footballing terms, the episode provides another Champions League level own goal from the lead party of unionism: co-authoring a document urging the prompt spending of £36m on local soccer grounds; endorsing the existence of a £302m UK taxpayer fund for other soccer projects and pitching for some of that money to be spent within the north; hailing the spending of more than £60m on redeveloping an ice rink venue - all whilst opposing the redevelopment of Casement Park on the grounds that the taxpayer could not possibly pay for it because other “vital public services” were in need of extra spending.
There is a world in which the largest pro-Union party recognises the perilous state of the Union and charts a path with the intent of demonstrating a desire to make this place attractive and inclusive, where all are treated equally. Alas, that world does not exist in reality.
The case for Casement makes itself.
The 34,000-plus seater Casement Park may come at an additional cost at this time - partially met by the Irish government and GAA itself - but the immediate and long term benefits to both the GAA in Ulster and society as a whole are very significant. In addition to being a truly magnificent home for Gaelic Games, helping to realise a dream and motivate generations of players and children, the new stadium can be a significant economic game changer for Belfast and the north.
Like the other major GAA stadia on the island, Casement will undoubtedly host concerts, allowing Belfast to bid for major acts who previously would not have looked beyond Dublin, whilst also hosting other sporting events bringing an economic boon to the city - on that note, look no further than the American college football games held in Dublin since 2012 which have brought hundreds of millions of Euro to the Irish economy.
As Gavin Robinson might say, building Casement is an example of far-sighted decision making. It’s just a pity that many are blind to recognising that obvious fact.
