Demolition begins on Casement Park grandstand

The grandstand at Casement Park is being removed as the demolition of the 73-year-old Belfast stadium enters its final stages.

The site on the Andersonstown Road is being cleared to make room for a planned new GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) stadium.

However, the money to build it has yet to be secured.

The original Casement Park stadium was built just after the Second World War and opened in June 1953.

Some soil from GAA headquarters at Croke Park in Dublin was brought to the west Belfast ground to mark its official opening.

It was the home of Antrim GAA until 2013, when matches stopped to prepare for the construction of a new stadium.

The project has since been dogged by problems, first with planning difficulties and more recently a shortfall in funding.

Nonetheless, the GAA is clearing the site in the hope that the money can be found soon to build the 34,500-capacity stadium.

Work began at the start of January and is expected to take 12 weeks to complete.

The GAA president Jarlath Burns estimated last year a new stadium would cost £260m.

Since then, the GAA has talked about reducing the specification to cut the price.

At the same time, inflation means costs are going up, not down.

Ulster GAA, which is spearheading the redevelopment, gave an update in its annual report, published at the start of January.

It stated: "To date, £170.5m has been secured for the project and we are hopeful that an additional inflationary funding allocation can be secured which should bring the overall funding package for the project to circa £220m."

That additional funding has yet to be found.

The planned redevelopment of Casement is a priority for Sinn Féin but not for the DUP.

The two largest parties in the Northern Ireland Executive cannot agree on the urgency of the issue.

If all had gone according to plan, the new Casement Park would have been built by now, ready to host gaelic games and also international soccer matches at the 2028 Euros.

That plan collapsed in September 2024 but it did not signal the end of the project.

The sight of machinery taking down the grandstand shows the GAA remains determined to rebuild the stadium.

Discussions about securing extra funding are continuing.