Jarlath Burns pessimistic on Casement’s Euro hopes

GAA President Jarlath Burns believes that the likelihood of Casement Park being part of Euro 2028 has all but slipped away.

Casement Park is due to host five games when Euro 2028 comes to the United Kingdom and Ireland, but work must be completed by 2027.

Preparatory work for the redevelopment work began earlier this year but with issues over funding from the UK government still to be resolved, Burns admits the clock looks set to run out.

“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,” reported the Irish Times.

“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.”