SDLP Leader of the Opposition Matthew O’Toole has said he cannot understand Ministers’ failure to raise Casement Park during a meeting with the Chancellor last week.

He asked the Finance Minister in the Assembly on Monday if funding for Casement was raised during the meeting in London, the day before the UK Government announced they would not fund the stadium in time for Euro 2028.

Minister Archibald confirmed Casement was not raised by her or the First and deputy First Minister, who were also at the meeting.

South Belfast MLA Mr O’Toole said:

“Confirmation from the Finance Minister that Casement Park was not discussed at the Executive’s meeting with Chancellor Rachael Reeves last week will rightly shock anyone with a vested interest in this project. The media had been awash with reports that a decision on Casement was imminent and to not even bring it up is a dereliction of duty from these Ministers.

“The Finance Minister was also unable to confirm what she and her officials knew about the Casement decision and when, only able to say that they were not aware an announcement would be made on Friday. Given the decision was made the following night, it’s even more surprising that these leading Executive members chose not to raise it or were given no indication that it was coming.

“While the UK Government has handled the Casement situation appallingly, the blame for this does not lie with them alone. When in government the SDLP did everything we could to drive the project forward, but it has fallen victim to the collapse and dysfunction that has caused so much harm in our society. It may have been unlikely to lead to a separate outcome, but raising Casement Park during such a high-level meeting with the government is surely the least we can expect from these Ministers.”