Opposing funding for Casement Park 'incomprehensible', says McDonald

Opposing funding for the redevelopment of Casement Park is “incomprehensible”, Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald has said.

Ms McDonald’s comments came after DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson insisted there would be no extra money from Stormont for the project.

Ms McDonald addressed the media in Belfast alongside vice-president Michelle O’Neill and party colleague Conor Murphy.

Ms McDonald said the project would benefit all communities in Northern Ireland.

“I find it incomprehensible that anybody would be against something that brings so much obvious good for everybody,” she said.

“This is a good news story for everybody right across the North, for sport, for the economy, for relationships between Britain and Ireland, north and south.

“So I think rather than complaining about or looking a gift horse in the mouth, we need to grab this now with both hands, make it happen, and, of course, get the executive back up and running.”

As well as a series of legal challenges, the redevelopment has also been hit by rising costs, with an original projected price tag from almost a decade ago of £77.5 million now believed to be well above £100 million.

The GAA is part-funding the project but has yet to reach an agreement with Stormont on how to cover a multimillion-pound shortfall.

Ms McDonald said the Casement Park redevelopment would be receiving a “substantial investment” from the Irish Government.

“There will be a contribution from Dublin, it’s not a confirmed figure, it would be a substantial investment from Dublin and rightly so,” she said.

“It’s a very, very important part of sporting infrastructure, particularly for Gaels in the North, but beyond that I’m sure the GAA will confirm, but it will be open for use by other