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GAA PRESIDENT JARLATH Burns admits he is ‘pessimistic’ about the prospect of Casement Park hosting games for the Euro 2028 tournament.
It was confirmed last October by Uefa that Ireland would host the championship with the UK, and the redeveloped Casement Park in Belfast was named as one of the ten venues chosen to stage games.
But there have been serious doubts cast about the rebuild of the stadium being completed in time, with uncertainty continuing over the British Government’s commitment to helping finance the project.
Burns pointed to next month’s July election as a further obstacle in the path of the redevelopment.
“There’s an election on in the north. And whenever an election is called, you enter into what we call purdah, where governments are not allowed to make big donations or big announcements. It’s very handy for the Conservative government that they get out of having to do it.
“The Gaelic Athletic Association will always be in a very precarious position when we find ourselves depending on the goodwill of the British government. It’s never worked out for us before. I’m very, very disappointed with the pace of how it’s gone. It’s not looking as if we’re going to get the Euros.
“The whole project is being run by the Strategic Investment Board and they have been telling us that in order to get the tenders in and to find out what it’s going to cost, it’s going to take six weeks and then there’s going to have to be another four weeks for appeals to that. We’re working away, we’re clearing the site and that, but at the end of the day, it’s Uefa and their timelines are important.
“It has to be up and running for almost a year before you can actually say that it’s properly functional, so I’m now pessimistic that the Euros will be played in Casement Park.”
Attending the recent Europa League final between Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen at the Aviva Stadium reaffirmed Burns’ belief of the potential positivity for the city of Belfast at being involved as a host in an international soccer tournament.
“Having attended the final of the Europa League in the Aviva, I can see what Uefa bring to a stadium and to an event. West Belfast deserves that and we’re not getting it. It’s just a great pity because the carrot was dangled in front of us and then it was taken away.
“And actually the big loser here is going to be the game of soccer in Northern Ireland society and the economy. The Department for the Economy were waiting to weigh in with all sorts of other things that were going to come from there.
“As somebody who was born and reared in Northern Ireland with a particular affinity to West Belfast, because that’s where my wife is from, I would have felt that it would have had the same impact as U2 playing in Sarajevo at the end of their Zoo TV tour, having spent most of that tour reporting from war-torn Sarajevo. It was sending out the message that this city is now back, it’s now a modern, major European city.
“It’s just a pity. But we’re still very hopeful and expectant that we’re going to get the funds to make a provincial stadium where we can play our Ulster finals.”
Burns, speaking yesterday at the Michael Cusack Centre in Carran, Clare, as the 2024 All-Ireland hurling championship was launched, admitted the specifications for the rebuild would be altered if it did not have to meet requirements set out by Uefa.
“One of the things we’re going to have to do in order to get the number of people in that’s required (by Uefa) is that we’re going to have to dig further down and take out maybe four or five metres to create more seating.
“That’s massive money that it will cost to do that. That obviously wouldn’t have to be done now, so it would take a lot less to build Casement to Ulster GAA final spec as opposed to European Championship spec. That is correct.”
The GAA President believes the Government’s contribution to help fund the Casement project would hold even if the Euros were not held there.
In February, then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed the Government would be pledging €50 million towards the stadium redevelopment costs, as part of an €800 million package for cross-border projects.
“Firstly, I would have to take my hat off and thank the Irish government for that money. It was a very generous shared island donation. It didn’t come with any stipulations. One thing about the Irish government when it comes to the GAA is that they do not act in bad faith.
“From time to time they might say something that we might disagree with, but they’ll always act in good faith and they have always been very generous to the GAA, understanding the role that the GAA has in Irish society.
“And it is a genuine shared island project because there will be teams from the south up and down all the time playing there.”
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Well as much as I cant stand that British Home Secretary I agree with her here. You make your bed when you join IS . Our government is moving hell and earth to get the the Irish IS bride home from Syria at the taxpayers expense. You couldnt make it up.
@Stephen Mc Partlin: is there legal grounds for refusing her entry back into Ireland?
@Stephen Mc Partlin: I don’t see hell and earth being moved to bring her back
@GrahamMManning: No. The Brits brought in new laws allowing them to strip citizens of their nationality. Our weak government hasn’t had the guts to do the same.
@Ian Breathnach: incorrect, she had duel citizenship which allowed the UK to revoke her British citizenship otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to stop her returning.
@Stephen Mc Partlin: you’re right, you couldn’t make it up because it’s not what’s happening.
The fact is that she has Irish citizenship only and the government can not revoke her citizenship and make her stateless, that would be in volition of numerous international laws.
In short, the Irish government can’t stop her returning but they could look at charging her if there’s proof she was directly involved in ISIS.
@Stephen Mc Partlin: the Irish one should’ve had more sense. She’s a grown woman. The English one was 15 and became radicalised like. There’s more of a case for the English girl to be taken back.
@Stephen Mc Partlin: I am total agreement with you. I can’t stand the awful Patel but in this instance she is right.
@Bruce Van der Gutschmitzer: no way she is security risk to people. I think she is probably safer where she is than if she gets back to the UK where she would be in danger from ex Isis followers.
@Ian Breathnach: so she can come home. We’ve no obligation to help but if she gets here she has to be allowed in. Beyond that prosecute her if there’s a crime that can be proven and keep her under surveillance until the security services judge her not a threat. Setting a precedence for allowing governments to render people stateless if not the way forward.
@GrahamMManning: Yea she’s a buck toothed terrorist sympathiser.
@Jim Buckley Barrett: no, she was entitled to apply for dual British/Bangladeshi citizenship but didn’t do so and the Bangladeshi government has stated she won’t be allowed enter the country. She is a British citizen so why should any other country have to take responsibility for her?
@EillieEs: Exactly. Zero sympathy for her or her “cause”, but how typical of the British to try to wash their hands of the problem and deny her citizenship.
@Darren: and that means we should????
@EillieEs: I’m referring to lisa not the uk one
@Stephen Mc Partlin: wow moving hell and earth there. Article from July, they must be getting her to walk from there
@Stephen Mc Partlin: You cannot be an Irish person.No way.Because to give this woman any credience is to me an Irishman abhorrent.This woman was happy to starve us again(remember 1845) to get Brexit through.She would be a mini Trump if allowed too much leeway.And you (if you’re Irish),cop on boy.She warrants NO credit from any true Irish person.
@Billy McNamara: who are you to question If Iam an Irish person which Iam of course and proud to be . If you read my post in the first place you’d see that I only agree with her decision in this instance. I dont need a history lesson from you either ‘ boy ‘.
@GrahamMManning: dont know about legal grounds but definitely on moral grounds this woman should never be allowed set foot in Ireland again
@Jim Buckley Barrett: Should be charged with aiding genocide , by membership of ISIS . And held in UN Prision .
@Philip Siggins: thankfully “morals” are now laws. We didn’t end up in the greatest of spots when they were
@Jim Buckley Barrett: but they should just leave her there until Ryanair start flights to Syria and she can buy her own ticket home. She had no trouble getting there
@Shane McGettrick: Its far from washing their hands . Shes a treat to the UK Priti Patel is 100% correct
@Billy McNamara: Billy off you go lad and take your meds . You can only be an Irishman if you conform to your ideas of one . Heard that enough times on here
@Stephen Mc Partlin: I hope you learn to read. If you read the article you posted, you would have seen that the government has NO plans to send anyone from here. It said if she got here she would be allowed in, which is her right. No signs of heaven and earth moving. Fake news
Good call… Excellent
@Leo Lalor: ISIS raped Yazidi children. What kind of responsible adult would run to a group that were raping children and selling girls and women as sex slaves.
@The long walk home☘️: she was a child when she ran to them
@bmul: ok shes now 19 nearly 20 . She could have come back at anytime in between but she only wants to come back now because the Caliphate is dust
A home secretary who was sacked by the previous PM for going on a solo run with a foreign government and wanted to starve Ireland to get us to concede on the backstop probably isn’t the best person to be issuing sermons on national security and on those who would do harm to others. Interesting how many people think Beggum knew exactly what she was doing at 15 but Greta Thunberg at 16 is only a tool for others who shouldn’t be taken seriously. I suppose you could also argue there are those who argue Beggum was young and impressionable while Thunberg is her own person. Plenty of hypocrisy to go around we’ll uncover plenty more if this precedent to make somebody stateless leads to it happening more. It’s all very well to agree with it when it’s used against somebody like this but it wont always be a right wing government in power and if they can used it for populist propaganda so can those on the left.
@Tom Thumb: most intelligent comment I’ve ever seen on the journal. I’m dying to see the counter arguments..
It would be interesting if she took a court case about this and I don’t know of any reason why she couldnt. When Brexit gets delayed again at the end of October this could end up getting to the European courts. She is an EU citizen. Wouldn’t that be just something !
@Tom Thumb:
The centuries ideology that Beggum is a part of is an all encompassing one that seeks to control just about every aspect of ones life, from politics(political Islam) to how you dress, eat, even who you should and shouldn’t associated with(Sharia). Climate change activism/hysteria isn’t on a par with Islamic fundamentalism, so no, I wouldn’t take Thunberg seriously, she’s being unfortunately used by the left and fake liberals for their agenda, a child pawn.
You’re not born into climate change activism, you can remove it from you life anytime you wish, as for certain sects of Islam, not so much.
@➕The Gray➕: Thanks for proving my point.
@➕The Gray➕: who exactly (names please) is controlling Thunberg? Are the same dastardly people stopping you from getting to Cork?
@GrahamMManning: Thunberg’s frequent handler is Luisa-Marie Neubauer, an operative from the ONE Movement. Neubauer can be seen behind Thunberg at many of her public events.The Gates Foundation admits on their official website that the ONE Movement is a collaboration between some of the world’s richest and most powerful interests, including Bill Gates, Bono and infamous progressive financier George Soros.
@JimmyMc: “handler”? That an official title? “operative”? Seriously is 007 involved? Gates and Soros are evil??? Bono fair nuff
@Adam: Agreed Tom! very interesting and well-reasoned, touching on the hypocrisy around this issue and the very dangerous precedent it sets to make people stateless, I’d imagine the counter arguments in typical journal fashion will be composed of thinly-veiled racism, rambling nonsense and will somehow, inexplicably manage to attack people on welfare.
I hope our Government will say the same about the Isis woman from Ireland
@Alan Scott: Not a hope in that happening.
@Alan Scott: v bad precedent to set. If she’s guilty of something, however hard to prove, then allow her home and prosecute her.
@GrahamMManning: Well it’s a good thing you or the Looney left dont make decisions for our country, we have enough homegrown terrorists already without ISIS sympathising nutjobs walking our streets.
@Darren: you do realise what I’ve outlined is essentially what happening? So does that mean the “looney left” is in charge or you’re wrong? Either is a scary option right?
@Alan Scott: she doesn’t even have impressionable youth as defence. Maybe diminished mental capacity alright.
Ha ha.good enough for her.
@Tony Hanratty: she’s a British citizen, doesn’t hold dual citizenship with Bangladesh whose government has said she won’t be allowed enter the country, so why should any other country but the UK have to deal with her?
She shouldn’t have booked with Thomas Cook.
I don’t think it’s right to strip citizens of their citizenship in general, but the State (be it the UK or Ireland) should not be going to any significant effort to *help* them get home, even if to face prosecution.
In Begum’s case it’s harder to have sympathy for her because she comes off as very disingenuous and opportunistic saying what she needs to say to save herself: the comments about severed heads only to backtrack, saying she was just an innocent housewife when this is contradicted by many others who have little if anything to gain from lying. She remains a threat to public security, which as a citizen from birth, shouldn’t preclude her from re-entry to face prosecution. But it should completely preclude her from any assistance in getting to the border.
@Gerard: I don’t think its right to behead any person eighter if these people were to still have power a lot more beheading’s would have taken place and these women would have been at the side of the fella taking the action So keep them out of this Country as the UK has done.
@Alan Scott: so the country where these beheadings took place should be expected to allow these foreign nationals to remain?
The correct decision was made
@WreckDefier: correct for whom? She was involved with a group who destroyed a country she had no ties to and yet you think they should allow her to remain there? She is a British citizen so only the UK should have to deal with her.
@EillieEs: I suspect this has more to do with laying down a marker for others who might contemplate something similar than this particular individual.
With the fall of ISIS both in IRAQ & Syria and them losing territory, Is this the reason both Irish &British women want to come home to their prospective countries ?
As for FFG they are failing over each other in order to bring the Irish one home, And if it does happen get prepared for the interview with Tubs on the LLS.
Tough call. She could have been brainwashed by the group to go over and as a child, it would have been quite easy to do. But understand the rationale… Tough call none the less.
@Peter Cavey: tough call…no…it’s a no brainer
@Peter Cavey: She could always jump off a cliff plenty of them over there.
@SFNutters: she’s a British citizen so why should any other country have to deal with her?
@Peter Cavey: a very easy call. If IS would’ve been successful it wouldn’t have been a tough call for them whether or not to chop off your head
@EillieEs: not any more…sure she can just stay where she is…she went there of her own accord.
@SFNutters: you think Syria should have to keep her when they are the ones who suffered most under ISIS?
Get in there ya little pup before your mother sees ya.
She’s in her happy place. Why would she want to go back to the evil west?
Good call
Patel might (but hasn’t, yet, to be fair) grandstand over this but the bottom line is that this woman had dual nationality after being granted UK citizenship. Her UK citizenship was then revoked which rightly allows the UK authorities to refuse her return. The obvious difference with the Irish case is that Smith was born here and is Irish by birth. Her nationality cannot be revoked and she is therefore entitled to return….although she can walk here as far as I’m concerned.
Best choice they made thus far…
It is interesting to contrast the reaction in Britain to this obviously impressionable and foolish teenage girl who got pregnant but didnt personally kill anyone with the reaction of many in the UK to charges against Soldier F who killed innocents in Derry. The girl will pay for the rest of her life for her teenage foolishness, those clamouring for that are probably the same people who want the soldier’s actions as a very young man to be forgiven.
@Squiddley Diddley: She will be rewarded for the rest of her life by many in the Muslim community who will view her as a jihadi who has done her bit to further the expansion of Islam.
@Philip Siggins: I think you’ll find the Muslim community generally regard Isis as dangerous nutters.
Fault her join isis that British secretary home tear her British passport finish
What a shame to treat the poor woman in this way shame on the UK
@Liam Mc Meel: kop on. U have no idea
@Liam Mc Meel: sorry, what? Can you explain the ‘poor woman’ part? Or just explain your thoughts in general on the situation. I’m genuinely intrigued as to your thoughts and how you came to your decision on said thoughts.
@Liam Mc Meel: sarcasm?
@Liam Mc Meel: she wants to return to the UK to protect her child.
I don’t want her to to protect mine.
@Liam Mc Meel: Are u trying to wind up the Bs and Gs on the coment line ?
@Brian Farrell: her child is dead
@Liam Mc Meel: I hope you’re being sarcastic
@Gus Sheridan: which one.
Fighting fire with fire only makes more fire, if they treat her with what we like to claim is the civilised west maybe we promote what we claim to be a better way of life. Treating harshly only enforces extreme views, you can’t have it both ways.
Petel is a vile individual
@Ken Adams: no it doesn’t that why we use fire breaks to fight fire with fire
@Ken Adams: we are civilised that’s what separates us from these troglodytes, but it’s that very civility that has been exploited to the fullest and used against us.
Just matter of time before some govt idiot will pipe up that she would be welcome in Ireland along with our own isis bride that Leo is fawning over….
What is it about right leaning women? Mostly stunning looking.
Shes probably already in a safe house with new ID, us the peassnts will. Never know
I thought we were done and over with her? Ugh, seeing her stupid Jihadi face has ruined my day. Thanks, media,
We will take her
Out own Irish ISIS tramp , wants to come home , that’s nice , after her organization raped , and enslaved children . Butchered there way across Syria abd,Iraq.
Hahahahaha hahahahaha
Another barrow load of dish for the legal eagles and she’ll win.
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