Northern Ireland Stadium News

Despite revelations that Edwin Poots’s Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure has spent nearly £3.5 million on promoting a new stadium in his back yard, the press are hinting that the white elephant is edging ever-nearer to it’s ultimate demise after the DCAL Permanent Secretary Paul Sweeney refused to endorse the plans.

According to the Sunday Life, “The absence of support from key civil servants in the departments principally involved in the project … is likely to put the final nail in its coffin.”

Finance Minister Peter Robinson is due to make a recommendation to the Executive before he takes over the position of First Minister later this month, however he has recently hinted that the Maze could be redeveloped through other means that wouldn’t require the construction of a national stadium, suggesting he may already have a decision in mind.

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It’s 2-and-a-half years now since direct rule ministers told us that the Maze was “the only viable option” and yet we don’t seem any closer to seeing a business case for it.

We were told earlier this year that a business case would be forthcoming in the Autumn and then that it would be with the Finance Minister Peter Robinson in December. Instead all we’ve seen are attempts by the Minister to use his comittee for cheap publicity stunts, in what the members of that committee said amounted to an “abuse of the democratic process.”

With the Northern Ireland Executive’s budget announced today there’s still no sign of this famed business case. All DCAL are saying is that the business case is “still being considered” and that they don’t know when it will be ready.

As you can probably guess, StadiumForBelfast has suspicions that DCAL have simply realised that the business case is simply unworkable and, unprepared to admit defeat, are working away desperately trying to ’sex up’ their dossier. Surely they will surprise us all and those issues were all in our imaginations (and yours). Even if they don’t, sure transport, atmosphere, economics and of course the sporting experience don’t really matter anyway.

Time to stop the madness. Sign the petition.

Last week Ian Paisley Jr. (Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister) visited Nationals Park, “a key social and economic regeneration project in Washington DC” centred around the building of a new baseball stadium. The stadium is being built as the new home for the Washington Nationals baseball team and will be the focus of a regeneration effort encompassing business, residential and retail projects. You can see where he’s going with this, right?

His visit serves to highlight the enormous benefits to the economy the building of a new stadium can bring in terms of regeneration etc.

“It is clear that this site will also become not only a thriving economic platform for small and minority business but a social centre for the local community.”
Ian Paisley Jr, OFMDFM Junior Minister

Hopefully while he was there he’ll have taken note that the site of Nationals Park is approximately one mile from the US Capitol buildings, not in a field 10 miles outside the city. There isn’t much of a community to use the Maze stadium as a “social centre” since there’s not a built-up area around for miles!

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.

Ulster rugby star Trevor Ringland, previously a backer of the plans for a stadium at the old Maze site has urged the devolved executive not to rush the decision. The Sunday Life reported that the former Ireland and Lions winger has reconsidered his support for the Maze proposals.

“As someone who has previously backed it, I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be there but I am willing to concede that it is not clear cut. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff & Croke in Dublin are obvious examples of grounds near the centre of populations that have created fantastic atmospheres. I do not want a white elephant built and that is why I would like to see a major, open and honest debate on the location. It is what is right for the people of Northern Ireland that counts.”

Trevor Ringland

It’s not surprising that Ringland was originally in support of the Maze. There are a large number of people who were effectively caught up in fanciful talk about UEFA cup finals (which will not happen due to UEFA requirements) and Olympic football (before people realised that they’d never sell 40,000 tickets for Iran vs Qatar). The NIO press office has done a wonderful job of propaganda but the holes have begun to appear and are growing every day.

There is enormous opposition to the Maze stadium, but with the devolved executive dominated by the DUP and Sinn Fein (the one party to openly back the plans), and the DUP’s Lisburn-centric leadership backing the plans (and running DCAL, the ministry responsible for sports), there is a danger that our all-knowing politicians will decide that they know more about sport than players and fans.

Register your opposition now - sign the petition to build the stadium in Belfast.

An influential group of MPs today added their voices to the growing chorus calling for any new stadium to be built in Belfast.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee at Westminster published a lengthy and detailed report into tourism in Northern Ireland today which heralded the sporting, economic and tourism benefits of Belfast as a venue for the new stadium.

121. We believe that development of a National Stadium could provide the much needed exhibition space, as in Cardiff, which is required to attract major conferences to Belfast. Apart from the sporting and economic arguments in favour of locating the National Stadium in the city we believe that there would be considerable tourist advantages from such a decision.

It’s clear that the Maze has been uncovered as something between a sub-optimal use of resources and an expensive political vanity project. It’s time a stop was put to this insane idea.

Make your voice heard - sign our petition.

The Conservatives became the first party in Northern Ireland to come out and publicly question the wisdom of the Government’s plans for a national stadium at the Maze. Even Lagan Valley candidate Neil Johnston has expressed concern, meanwhile the other candidates in that constituency are still dreaming of photo-opportunities and self-interest.

In a press release issued today, Johnston said:

“When the government says they are going to spend multi millions on a project we should all be very concerned. When the government says it is really only prepared to spend money on one option to the exclusion of other options – then we should be very worried indeed.

The vast majority of our candidates are in favour of a Belfast stadium and even though I am from Moira I am extremely sceptical about the Maze site. I believe the Assembly needs to sit down and look at all the options – without the government holding a gun to their head.  My concern is that this stadium could be built by a multi national consortium using overseas workers and the only jobs that it might bring to local people might be to steward or run fast-food outlets on the dozen or so busy days each year that the stadium would actually be used. We could be left with a White Elephant of enormous proportions.

[Other parties] are trying to be all things to all men – but we believe it is time someone said ‘The Emperor has no clothes’ - this project simply does not stack up at present.

We are all basking in the glory of Ireland’s victory over England at Croke Park but we should reflect that there are never going to be ‘days like this’ at the Maze Stadium. There will never be Six Nation matches at the Maze and indeed all the proposed sporting partners have signed up in a very minimalist way.”

As well as applauding Mr Johnston for his honest stance on the issue and for seeing past parochial interests, Stadium For Belfast calls on all the local parties and candidates to follow suit and state publicly that they support a Belfast stadium and end this Maze nonsense once and for all.

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!

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.