What is your favourite memory from the Euros? Maybe it was 2016 in Lille when Robbie Brady got on the end of the laser like cross from Wes Hoolahan to send Ireland through to the knock out stages for the first time?
Or Northern Ireland beating Ukraine? Remember Ray Houghton’s goal to beat England in 1988, back when it was an eight-team competition? Or Euro ’96 when Paul Gasgoine’s inspired England lost yet another penalty shoot out to Germany? Great days all and treasured memories for football fans.
Now cast your mind forward to Euro 2028 and the very real prospect of the finals being held across the UK and the Republic of Ireland, with Casement Park in west Belfast named among the 10 stadia which will host matches, if the bid is successful.
We will know the outcome of the bidding process by October this year. Of course there is a problem which immediately springs to mind, summed up neatly by my 17-year-old son who asked me this week ‘Do UEFA not know that Casement hasn’t been built yet?’ It’s a fair and instinctive question.
Firstly, a word of praise for the positive way in which the Ulster Council of the GAA and the Irish Football Association have worked together to get to this point. That co-operation is one example of the kind of partnership which was to be at the heart of the single stadium project at the Maze Long Kesh site where the three main sports would have shared a stadium.
It should always be remembered that the GAA was the first sports body to sign up to that project. When it fell through the money was re directed towards new stadia for soccer, rugby and the GAA. Two out of three have been delivered, and in this case, two out of three ain’t good.
The Casement saga has dragged on for too long, through two planning processes, two legal challenges and a decade of having a stadium laying empty and desolate in the middle of the Andersonstown Road, where games should be taking place in front of big crowds, week after week, month after month. Now planning is resolved, the court cases are over and the big question is what is the new cost and who will pay the extra money required?
Cahair O'Kane: Don't build Casement just for the sake of it
Inclusion on the UEFA bid shortlist changes the game. Northern Ireland’s bid to host the Youth Commonwealth Games in 2021 fell due to lack of funding and a failure of politicians to make the big decisions which were needed.
That cannot be allowed to happen again and it is very difficult to see how the UK Government could not support Casement with extra funding if we are the last piece of the Euro 2028 jigsaw. Indeed the Irish Government and the Football Association of Ireland will be extremely keen to have major Euro games in Dublin and they too should be involved in discussions on extra funding to ensure Casement gets built; the project to deliver what is the second biggest sporting occasion in the world meets could well fall under the agenda of a shared island.
The GAA has said it cannot contribute any more than the £15m already pledged but they too should be central to any conversation about additional funding.
The FA and the FAI are the two Associations behind the joint bid, they are supported by the regional football associations in NI, Wales and Scotland. The football authorities have said they are delighted to have the support of Government partners who have “signed the relevant guarantees and will ensure the event is fully supported.” The Northern Ireland Secretary of State has acknowledged the potential of the competition to deliver economic and social benefits across Northern Ireland.
Some Northern Ireland fans will be wary of attending games in Andersonstown and supporting the Green and White Army in a GAA ground. None of this should dismiss these concerns lightly but rather work to persuade everyone that of course they have a place in west Belfast, and that a ‘shared city’ is more than a soundbite. Imagine the games take place in a carnival atmosphere of celebration and inclusion, what better way to mark a new era for a new generation.
All of that lifts the Casement Park project to a new level on which decisions around funding will not be restricted to our stalled Executive. And this is an investment, not a cost.
Casement will be built by a local contractor; the materials will come from Northern Ireland, hundreds of local people will be employed to build the stadium and to operate it afterwards. We have expertise here which has been applied in the design and construction of other stadia, at Spurs, Anfield, Arsenal to name a few. Let’s apply that expertise to a new stadium on the Andersonstown Road.
The Euros may provide the impetus to finally get Casement over the line and it will be amazing to see world class soccer played there in 2028. But more importantly it is vital to get gaelic games back to a built for purpose stadium serving Belfast, Antrim and Ulster. Let’s fill Casement on Ulster Final day, for big league matches and All Ireland qualifiers, let our young people dream of playing there, as their parents and grandparents did.
The time has come for a new generation to build their own Casement memories, and if that includes the Euro finals of 2028, then all the better.
Brendan Mulgrew is managing partner at MW Advocate (www.mwadvocate.com). Follow him on Twitter at @brendanbelfast.
