Peter Hain Backs Belfast Stadium
In an unlikely turn of events Secretary of State Peter Hain has stated his belief that showpiece sporting events should be held in city centres, because “there’s a wonderful atmosphere of people milling around the streets, which become pedestrianised, coming in and out of pubs and restaurants and cafes and flooding into the ground.” He went on to say that there’s a much greater sense of occasion when events take place in a City Centre than they will, for example, at the new Wembley, because the new London stadium is being built in a suburb.
If Peter Hain’s colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office would care to check, they’d find that that’s exactly what we’ve been arguing from the start! Our Secretary of State believes that the benefits of a city-centre location have made the Millennium Stadium “probably one of the best in the world” and there is no reason why what applies to Wales shouldn’t apply to Northern Ireland.
Therefore, StadiumForBelfast urges Peter Hain, as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in the strongest possible terms, to make his view clear to the muppets in the NIO who are insisting on building Northern Ireland’s new stadium not in a suburb, but in a field miles away from the nearest suburb!
Peter Hain: Sign Our Petition - support a stadium in Belfast!