Adams urges more spending on grassroots sports

Greater priority should be given to funding sports in Northern Ireland at a grassroots level rather than spending it on a stadium, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams claimed today.

He said his party would prefer to see resources put into community sport rather than the proposed £55m (€82m) stadium floated by the British government.

He said: “I’m not pretending to be an expert on this but I have to say I would prefer to see public money invested in sporting structures which develop training and the outreach of all sports.

“I am from a constituency where some sports organisations like Gaelic football teams do not have a proper field to train on. Kids in soccer clubs do not have club rooms and boxing clubs also need facilities.

“There is a whole community of young people involved in roller-skating and skateboarding and yet they have no proper facilities to go to.

“So I think more resources should be devoted to increasing training facilities and opening up access to sport especially to those with disabilities and that should be the overwhelming priority. “

Mr Adams reflected a lukewarm reaction among politicians in Northern Ireland to the announcement yesterday by Northern Ireland Office Sports Minister Angela Smith that she had commissioned a study into possible locations for a new multipurpose sports stadium.

It is understood that four sites are currently under consideration, two in east and north Belfast, one in the border city of Newry and the favourite on the site of the abandoned Maze Prison which once housed some of Northern Ireland’s most notorious paramilitary prisoners.

The £55m (€82m) project, however, will only get the go-ahead from the British government if the governing bodies of soccer, GAA and rugby give it their blessing.

Former Stormont sports minister Michael McGimpsey of the Ulster Unionists has also expressed reservations about the proposal, insisting the government should have included a study of possible sites in its original business plan looking into the viability of the project.

The south Belfast MLA also queried whether the stadium would be able to attract the calibre of sporting events needed to sustain it economically and prevent the project slipping into debt.

Supporters of the stadium idea believe it would solve the problem of the Northern Ireland football team’s World Cup and European Championship matches being played in a ground which does not meet international standards.

They also believe that the success of the Ulster rugby team and popularity of Gaelic football and hurling could make it viable.

The SDLP has given a cautious welcome to the proposal, insisting it is vital that the GAA is on board the project.

The Democratic Unionists and the cross-community Alliance Party have given the project their support.