Northern Ireland Stadium News

President of the Irish Football Association Raymond Kennedy has indicated his preference for a new build stadium to be built as part of Ormeau Park.

With question marks over both the Maze plans and the future use of Windsor Park for international football, Kennedy said that the Irish FA would go along with any of the Belfast plans. His comments have been seen by some as a rebuke to the IFA’s Cheif Executive, Howard Wells, who has consistently backed the Maze plans and is rumoured to be seeking employment elsewhere.

“Beggars can’t be choosers. I want a stadium to play football matches and I want them in Northern Ireland, not anywhere else.

Belfast City Council have come up with five sites and I would take any one of them.”

Raymond Kennedy, Irish FA President

He also said that the Irish FA will be meeting with Linfield football club and the government to discuss the disputed contract that, on the surface, seems to tie the Irish FA to playing international football matches at Windsor Park for another 80 years.

“We have to look at where we are going to play our games in the short-term and that has to be a refurbishment at Windsor Park.

We’ll be meeting the government shortly and if that short-term agreement with them comes to pass then maybe we’ll look at a long-term solution.

I know Linfield have plans for a longer term solution - I don’t know whether we can buy into that or not.”

Raymond Kennedy, Irish FA President

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.

Over the past week a report has been published by experts at the University of Ulster recommending that a new stadium for Northern Ireland be located in an urban centre (like Belfast city, perhaps?) and accommodate between 20,000 and 30,000 spectators and developers behind the Belfast proposals are claiming they are all set to start work. Despite this, the DUP leadership in the form of First Minister Ian Paisley and DCAL minister Edwin Poots have been trying to sabotage proposals for a stadium at Ormeau Park near the heart of the city.

As if the imposition of an unrealistically short 2-week deadline by Edwin Poots wasn’t bad enough, our illustrious First Minister then decided that we couldn’t have a stadium in Ormeau Park because it would position a greyhound track too near some local churches and prove inconvenient for church-goers.

During this ridiculous charade, it was implied that the Belfast proposals didn’t meet the government’s requirements. This was refuted by Belfast-based Paul Durnien, one of the developers vying for the contract to build the Belfast stadium, who had met with Mr Poots in the previous week. Mr Durnien also said his firm could meet the 30th June deadline if the council gave them the go-ahead.

“No matter what he’s saying, there wasn’t one question he asked that we couldn’t answer. It’s clear he’s had a Maze agenda the whole way on this. We are ready to go to planners with an application, we just need the council to commit to a developer and scheme.”
Paul Durnien,
Durnien.com / City Of Belfast Stadium

Poots has also tried to deflect attention from the report recommending a city-centre venue by announcing that he has received assurances from Lord Sebastian Coe, helping to organise the 2012 Olympics, that the Maze would host some qualifying matches for the Olympic football tournament (so that’s the under-23s of Iran vs Qatar maybe?). Of course 3 matches that nobody will care about more than justifies spending £100 million of tax-payers money on a white elephant, doesn’t it Mr Poots?

Question: Can we attract ‘finals’ matches to the Maze?
Answer: No, 50,000 capacity is required for finals matches. This means that Northern Ireland would only be able to attract ‘preliminary’ matches to any new stadium. A capacity of 20,000 is required for preliminary matches.

Question: Do many fans support events such as Olympic football matches?
Answer: Overall, only 39% of the available tickets were sold for football matches in the Athens 2004 games. In the proposed Maze Stadium, a similar turnout would result in only 16,500 fans.

Question: Could the football events be played in a Belfast stadium?
Answer: Yes, as long as it had a minimum capacity of 20,000.

Question: Is the possibility of hosting Olympic football games a strong reason for building a stadium at the Maze?
Answer: No, considering the above, it is irrelevant.

Quoted fom the Amalgamation of Northern Ireland Supporters Clubs report on the Maze plans.

That certain DUP and Lagan Valley representatives have an agenda on this is no secret. There have even been allegations that elements within unionism wish to promote Lisburn as the new jewel in their Protestant crown now that Belfast is relatively evenly split along religious lines. Whatever the reason, they cannot be allowed to foist this white elephant on the population. Northern Ireland deserves better. Sign our petition and get our stadium built in Belfast.

The Amalgamation of Northern Ireland Supporters’ Clubsand Belfast City Council are to host a debate on the national stadium issue in the Waterfront Hall on 25th January. Councillor Bob Stoker (Community & Recreation committee chairman) will be representing Belfast City Council, Gary McAllister (press officer) the Amalgamation of NISCs and Michael Smyth as an lecturer on Economics from the University of Ulster.

The Political Development has been invited to take part and the Maze Consultation Panel have been asked to nominate a representative as well to ensure a balanced panel. The Maze Consultation Panel’s chairman Edwin Poots (whose DUP party colleague Jeffrey Donaldson illustrated many politicians’ understanding of the situation perfectly when he dismissed the argument as a Belfast vs Lisburn issue and accused Northern Ireland football fans, overwhelmingly opposed to the Maze plans, of sectarianism at a council meeting in Lisburn) has already declined the invitation and the vice-chair Paul Butler (Sinn Fein) said he was unaware of any such invitation.
The Amalgamation has already made clear its opposition to the Maze plans due to a large number of different concerns through protests and press announcements and are in the process of establishing a website at NoToTheMaze.com

Although it’s being called a public debate please be aware that, because of demand, attendance is by invitation only. Invitations can be requested by emailing the Amalgamation of NISCs.

Stop the madness. Stop the white elephant. Sign the Stadium For Belfast petition.

Former Northern Ireland manager Billy Bingham, who took the international side to Spain 82 and Mexico 86 during his time in charge, has advocated the building of a new national stadium in Belfast.

Bingham also revealed that there had been talk of moving Northern Irish football away from Windsor Park during his time in charge, and that he had had talks with ministers and they had liked the Ormeau site because it was one of the more neutral venues available. 

“I would be against the Maze, not because I dislike the Maze or anything like that. It would be better in central Belfast.”

Agree with Billy? Sign the Stadium For Belfast petition.

Belfast City Council have officially selected Ormeau Park as the site for the proposed Belfast stadium. Three interested developers have now presented detailed plans to the council, all of which are focused on the park in the south of the city.

Just as the Belfast stadium project is ploughing ahead, with world class developers (including the company behind the Emirates Stadium) presenting their ideas, concerns are being raised over the government’s commitment to the Maze project. Belfast City Council are still pursuing the NIO minister with responsibility for the Maze plans, David Hanson, in an effort to have the business plan for the Maze released. However, despite the stadium’s planned cost to the taxpayer of at least £85 million, the minister is still refusing to release the business plan.

Meanwhile, Lagan Valley politicians are worried that a new roads proposal indicates the government are not as committed to the Maze plans as it first appeared, with the proposed new A1 link road bypassing the area altogether.

Time to stop the madness. Sign the petition.

Representatives from the Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters Clubs have had meetings with senior officials from Belfast City Council recently to discuss the plans for a new national stadium in Belfast.

Following the meetings the Amalgamation issued a press release in which a spokesman indicated they were impressed by the detail and quality of some of the proposals submitted to the council, and satisfied that there was an opportunity to develop “a credible and feasible alternative to The Maze.”

Hopefully then by September the government-spun myth that there is “no plan B” can be put to rest once and for all.

The group behind the proposed City of Belfast Stadium at Ormeau Park have submitted their plans to Belfast City Council as of Tuesday. Included in the submission are plans of what the stadium would actually look like.

The councils Community & Recreation Committee will vet the responses (to the development brief issued on 5th June) and announce their preferred bidder on 21st August, a choice that must be ratified by a meeting of the full council on 1st September.

The main hurdle remaining is that the project will require planning permission from the Department of the Environment to go ahead, and some are worried that life could be made difficult for the Belfast stadium backers due to the government’s support for the rival Maze plans.

Paul Durnien, head of Durnien.com, the main company behind the project, reiterated that the City of Belfast stadium would be built at no cost to the taxpayer and that the proposed complex, incorporating a grayhound track, a community-based sports/recreation centre, swimming pool, training facilities and a sports-medical centre, would not occupy any of the parkland currently used by the local community. He also said that pending the approval necessary (including the council’s and the DoE’s), the stadium project would definitely go ahead.

Belfast City Council today issued a detailed development brief to the 7 developers that expressed interest in the council’s proposals for a new stadium in the city (which will be funded at no cost to the ratepayer, unlike the government’s Maze Plans which will cost the taxpayer millions). The brief covers all aspects of the stadium from planning, design, development, funding, construction to operation, promotion and ongoing management. The council have set a deadline of 25th July for responses.

THe NIO are a step ahead, having released their ‘masterplan’ last week, and are currently at the stage of running a competition for the design of the stadium itself. However the NIO need to attract anything up to £300 million in investment for their project, which includes many peripheral facilities around the stadium. However, the council are still of the firm belief that a Belfast stadium is viable and their deadline illustrates that they are determined to push ahead with their plans and disprove the myth propagated by the NIO that the Maze is the only viable option.

The Council’s Bob Stoker, chair of the Community and Recreation Committee said “we have included a stipulation in the brief that the stadium should be funded at no cost to the council. That is vital at a time when ratepayers face bills of three times more than they currently pay…. the vast majority of sports fans in Northern Ireland would prefer a stadium in Belfast, which is accessible by public transport and is close to other night-time entertainment venues and hotels. There is a gathering momentum behind siting a multi-sports stadium in Belfast”

The NIO need to realise that the stadium must be brought closer to the people. Build it in Belfast 

The Amalgamation of Official NISCs is currently embarking on a ‘roadshow’, taking their arguments on the National Stadium debate to various locations throughout the country. The presentation is set to be given to NISCs and local Councils in the coming weeks - a successful presentation has already been made to Ards Borough Council’s External Relations and Planning Committee.

The next in the series of these events will be held as follows: The Royal Hotel, Cookstown at 8pm on Wednesday 26th April. Portstewart FC, Portstewart at 8pm on Wednesday 3rd May. These events are open to the public and admission is free, so why not come along and take part in the national stadium debate.

Meetings are also planned with Carrick Borough Council on Mon 15th May, Lisburn City Council (who stand to gain the most from the Maze proposals) on Mon 5th June and Ballymena Borough Council on Mon 12th June.