Sambo McNaughton says the inclusion of Casement Park on the list of stadia for Euro 2028 is a "massive thing" for Antrim and Ulster GAA.
The stadium in west Belfast has been derelict for a decade with plans of its redevelopment delayed by a non-functionating government in Stormont along with planning objections. McNaughton believes that a new 34,000 capacity Casement Park being earmarked as a Euro 2028 venue "will probably kick it over the line".
"I can’t believe the other day when I was told how long it’s going on," McNaughton, a backroom team member for the Irish hurling-shinty team, said on Thursday.
"Even this morning, coming down on the radio, there was an awful lot of stuff going on behind the scenes. But it looks like it’s going to get done. It needs to be done. We need it badly. We need a home."
12 October 2023; Ireland manager Damien Coleman, left, with selector Terence Sambo McNaughton in attendance at the Hurling Shinty International 2023 launch at Croke Park in Dublin. Ireland play Scotland at Páirc Elser in Newry on October 21st. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
The cost of the stadium's redevelopment has spiralled since it was first proposed. DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said this week that Stormont doesn't have "the additional money that is required for this stadium".
"Sure Jeffrey Donaldson came out and said he’s going to veto it," said McNaughton.
"But then again, in the real world, what else is Jeffrey Donaldson going to say? He has to say that. He has no option. If he came out and said he backed Casement, just think of the reaction he would get there.
"These people are asked these questions and everybody knows the answer he’s going to give anyway. It goes on and on, you're talking to the same people and you know what they’re going to say before they open their mouth. That's just the way of it.
10 October 2023; A general view of Casement Park, which was announced as one of the proposed venues for UEFA Euro 2028, in Belfast, for the 2028 UEFA European Football Championship. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
"I don’t get the Unionist thing, what they’re doing. I don’t get the logic of it. Like, everything that happens, it's so petty, it's so childish. 'You'se get that, we need this'... It's like playground children at times.
"The whole of Ireland is going to be sitting down on Saturday night to cheer on our rugby team. I don't know much about rugby but I can tell you one thing, I want to see them do well. It's the same with the Irish ladies soccer team or whoever it is.
"99 per cent of people just want to get on with their lives. Me and you would love to go to Casement Park to watch Bruce Springsteen, there's that side to it too. We need a good stadium, we don't have one that can hold over 30,000 people.
"[Casement Park is] our home, it's our place. I had some great days in Casement. I obviously had some bad ones. But everywhere needs a home. I've been in Nowlan Park watching Kilkenny games and there's only a couple of thousand there. It's the same thing. It is what it is.
"For those one-off things, like, you buy two litres of milk - you don't use it all the time. There are times you need it. It's better to be looking at it than looking for it."
