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Government confirms Casement funding will not have to be repaid

Enda McClafferty
BBC News NI political editor
PA Media A derelict Casement Park, the grass is overgrown and there is rubble in and around the standPA Media

The government has confirmed that the £50m funding it pledged for the development of Casement Park in Belfast will not have to be repaid.

It followed questions raised in the Assembly by the DUP after it emerged the funding was allocated under a mechanism which allows for the money to be repaid.

The process is known as Financial Transactions Capital and when questioned in the chamber today Finance Minister John O'Dowd said the details were still being worked through.

He also raised the prospect of money being repaid.

But in a statement a government spokesperson said it was providing the £50m as an "equity stake" rather than a loan.

The money came as part of the chancellor's Spending Review, which allocates money to day-to-day public services for the next three years.

Rebuilding the west Belfast stadium is estimated to cost about £260m - of which £120m is jointly in place from the Stormont Executive, the Irish government and the GAA.

There is still a shortfall of about £90m.