South Antrim MLA welcomes Minister’s assurances of sub-regional stadium programme

Dr Steve Aiken OBE MLA has said that whilst he is pleased that Communities Minister, Deirdre Hargey, has said that the sub-regional stadium programme will now go ahead, the withdrawal of funds should never have been an issue in the first place.
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In a statement issued to the Newtownabbey Times on February 21, the South Antrim Ulster Unionist representative said: “There’s no doubt that last week was stressful for our local clubs following the Minister’s announcement to withdraw the £40million funding plan. That was then followed by anger when the Finance Minister announced that funding for Casement Park would still go ahead.

“Back in January monitoring, I expressed my surprise at the levels of reduced resource requirements and capital underspend. It looked at that stage like the Minister would struggle to spend allocated resources before the end of the financial year.

“In the Assembly last week, I took the opportunity to question the Finance Minister on why that money could not be used for the sub-regional stadium programme.

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has said that the sub-regional stadium programme will now go ahead.Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has said that the sub-regional stadium programme will now go ahead.
Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has said that the sub-regional stadium programme will now go ahead.

“I also raised my concerns regarding the fact that Casement Park was still going ahead with no business case when our local clubs-at the heart of our communities-were going to suffer.

“I highlighted that money was not the problem and that the outstanding issue was actually political; my thoughts were most definitely echoed by local club representatives when I met with them last week.

“Sports and local clubs play a massive part in bringing our local communities together. They become an integral part of family life for many across the country and they should not suffer as a result of poor political decisions.

“I’m glad to see that the Communities Minister has met with IFA and NIFL to give assurances that she is still committed to seeing the flagship project go ahead.

“It’s now time to make that funding available, our clubs have waited long enough.”

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