THE UK GOVERNMENT is refusing to confirm whether it will provide funding to redevelop Casement Park until, it says, it knows the costs and sees revised proposals for the stadium.

It was confirmed last October by Uefa that Ireland would host the Euros in 2028 with the UK, and the redeveloped Casement Park in Belfast was named as one of the ten venues chosen to stage games.

However, the full funding is still not in place despite commitments by the Irish government, with the UK previously saying it would not fund the redevelopment of Casement Park in time for 2028 due to “a significant risk that it would not be built in time”.

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn was commenting today after the GAA expressed hope that a lower spec redevelopment project can be delivered without an excessive drain on the public purse.

GAA president Jarlath Burns said the organisation was still planning for a venue with a capacity in excess of 30,000 but he said the fit-out would be more “modest and basic” than what was envisaged when the stadium was earmarked as a host venue for the Euro 2028 football tournament.

It is understood the GAA has now reverted to the plan it had in place for Casement prior to it being selected as a Euros venue.

Burns led a GAA delegation in a meeting with Stormont’s Communities Minister Gordon Lyons in Belfast to discuss the stalled project todoy.

In September, the UK government torpedoed hopes that the currently derelict west Belfast venue would host games in Euro 2028 when it announced that it would not bridge a funding gap to deliver the redevelopment in time.

It said the risk to the public purse of missing the tournament deadline was too high.

The UK government also expressed concerns about how the cost of the project had potentially risen to more than £400 million.

After the UK government pulled the plug on Casement as a Euros venue,  Lyons insisted the Executive still remained committed to redeveloping the ground for the needs of the GAA.

Today, Benn was pressed over whether the Government was still prepared to top up the funding pot for Casement Park even though it was no longer going to be a Euros venue.

On a visit to Wrightbus in Ballymena, the Northern Ireland Secretary told reporters he was not in a position to confirm whether extra funding will be forthcoming from the Treasury.

“I welcome the fact that, according to reports, Jarlath Burns has said that there’s going to be a revised proposal for Casement Park,” he said.

“The Prime Minister said some time ago we need to see an alternative proposition, and I look forward to hearing from the Executive following those discussions some more about that proposition, including what the cost is, because I’m not in a position to give a commitment today.

“We don’t know what the cost is. We don’t know what the gap is.

“But this has been a longstanding commitment of the Executive to ensure that Casement Park gets built.

“But we need to take it a stage at a time, and I look forward to hearing more about what this revised stadium looks like.”

Benn added: “I would like to know what the cost of this revised proposition is, and I look forward to hearing from the Executive and from the GAA as to precisely what it is.

“But, at the moment, it appears to be a very, very large gap.”