We can’t score own goal over cash for local sport
The proposed Casement Park
Northern Ireland fans chanting ‘You can stick your Casement Park’ where the proverbial sun doesn’t shine is another reminder of the delicate balancing act that politics has become here.
Despite decades of calls for politics to be kept out of sport, that has rarely been the case. In Northern Ireland the two, as they say, are inextricably linked.
News that a GAA stadium in west Belfast will see tens of millions may well annoy some Northern Ireland football fans for all the wrong reasons. But at the same time there is little doubt that local football appears to be lagging behind. It would be incredible if it didn’t benefit the Euros being hosted here.
Fans may have been characteristically blunt in their criticism, but more measured voices have made more reasoned arguments.
They include Linfield manager David Healy, who has raised questions over why £36m for local football in 2015 has still not been released.
It’s a legitimate question, and one that is unlikely to go away the closer Casement comes to completion.
It’s up to the IFA to address fan concerns constructively in the meantime, and when it comes to the money, the ball is in our politicians’ court.
Read on belfasttelegraph.co.uk
