Belfast Council Drop Current Ormeau Plans
Today Belfast City Council announced it was to “discontinue the … assessment of” the two remaining private development proposals for a stadium at Ormeau Park. Despite assurances from the council that they will “develop a business case” for a stadium in the city instead, this is a serious setback for proponents of a stadium in Northern Ireland’s first city.
The council must now prove that they are serious about contributing towards a new stadium for Northern Ireland in Belfast before suspicions mount that they were only ever paying lip-service to the idea in a cynical ploy to curry favour with their electorate.
The two developers involved in the proposals, Durnien and Sheridan, are certainly angry and legal action is already being discussed. If this has all been a big stunt from the council, it could end up being a costly one.