Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“I am deeply disappointed but not surprised that the DUP Communities Minister has doubled down on his position that there will be no attempt to recoup money spent on Casement Park via events held at the publicly funded GAA stadium.
“In response to a written question received today, Minister Lyons has told me that “no plans exist to recoup any of the cost of the project via annual income”. We therefore have a situation where the GAA will be gifted a stadium paid for by the taxpayer and permitted to keep 100% of the profits from both GAA and non-GAA events hosted at Casement.
“This is an intolerable situation, particularly when compared with other sports such as football which didn’t received a penny more than the money they were promised in 2011 when the Minister announced the delivery of the cash last week”.