SCHOOL EDITION 29 MAY 2024 - Flipbook - Page 9
POLITICS
newsdesk@irishnews.com
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 22 2020
www.irishnews.com
9
Casement decision must
be a priority says Mallon
SUZANNE McGONAGLE
s.mcgonagle@irishnews.com
SINN FÉIN RAISES GOLD
MINING CONCERNS
T
HE long-delayed redevelopment of Casement Park is a
“priority” for the north’s new
infrastructure minister, who
said she believes “we have all waited
far too long on a decision”.
Just days into the new role, Nichola Mallon said she wants to “move
to a decision point as quickly as
possible”.
It comes just a day after the chairman of Ulster GAA said planning
authorities had indicated they were
“hopeful” the process could soon
come to an end, possibly by April.
Tom Daly also said it was “up to us
in the GAA” to do what was required
for a “successful planning outcome”.
But Ms Mallon, who had responsibility for planning under her new
Stormont role, yesterday told The
Irish News she “can’t pre-empt outcomes because I have to consider
everything that comes before me”.
“Casement is a priority and I think
we have all waited far too long on a
decision, everybody involved,” she
said.
“But the state of play at the moment is that departmental officials
are awaiting some further information back from the GAA, that will be
advertised and consulted upon and I
am keen to be able to move to a position of decision as soon as possible
following all of the appropriate processes and procedures.”
On Wednesday, Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey and Finance
Minister Conor Murphy visited the
site of the proposed new stadium in
west Belfast where they met Ulster
GAA officials and project leaders to
discuss the impasse in the project.
Planning approval was granted
in 2013 for a 38,000-capacity stadium, but in 2014 that approval was
quashed in a High Court legal challenge brought by some residents,
who have called for a “suitably-sized
redevelopment”.
The project was reviewed the following year after a safety expert
claimed the planned stadium could
not be evacuated safely in certain
emergencies.
New plans were submitted by Ul-
SINN Féin has raised concerns
about gold mining in the north.
The party’s climate
spokeswoman
Caoimhe Archibald,
right, recently wrote
to Infrastructure
Minister Nichola
Mallon to ask for a public inquiry
into an application for a mine by
Dalradian Gold.
Some local people have objected
to plans by the Canadian firm to
develop a mine at Greencastle in
Co Tyrone.
She has also asked economy
minister Diane Dodds to review
the framework for mineral licensing and to place a moratorium on
the issuing of mineral prospecting
licences.
PRESSING MATTER Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon yesterday told
The Irish News that she wants a decision on the redevelopment of Casement
Park taken as soon as possible. Right, Finance Minister Conor Murphy,
Ulster GAA chairman Tom Daly and Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey
showed plans at the west Belfast venue on Wednesday
MAIN PICTURE: Mark Marlow
ster GAA in February 2017 with a
reduced capacity of around 34,000.
But they are still being assessed by
planning officials in the Department
for Infrastructure (DfI).
The initial cost of the project was
estimated at £77m, however, that estimate has now risen to £110m.
Under her brief as infrastructure
minister, Ms Mallon will be tasked
with dealing with the Casement Park
planning application.
But speaking yesterday, the SDLP
North Belfast MLA declined to discuss any issues relating to the outcome of the redevelopment.
“It is difficult for me to be able to
comment on any of the specific details of any of the planning applica-
tions that are before me,” she said.
“I have to respect the processes,
but I’m very clear that we have had
a complete absence of serious decision-making in the past three years.
“I want to be decisive but I want to
be making robust decisions based
on all of the evidence and following
all of due process.”
However, Ms Mallon said she is
keen for a decision to be made.
“From my perspective, what I want
to do is move to a decision point as
quickly as possible so once we get
information back,” she said.
“Once we follow all of the procedures, once I have considered
everything in the round as there
has been a lot of representations in
this particular application, then I
am wanting to move to decision as
quickly as I possibly can.”
In relation to the size of the stadium, she said she recognised “there
are people in support of it and people who are opposed to it”.
“I think given the fact that I’m going
to be a decision-maker on this application, it’s very important that I am
not pre-emptive or there are things
that I say that are not appropriate so
all I an say on it,” she said.
But in a statement, the Mooreland
and Owenvarragh Residents Association (MORA) reiterated that they
had “consistently stated our objections to the large scale development
of Casement Park”.
“There are obvious questions over
the suitability of Casement and this
is why the planning application is
taking so long,” a spokeswoman
said.
“There are many outstanding issues still to be resolved particularly concerning traffic management,
parking, safety of spectators and
access.
“DfI have requested additional
FEI (Further Environmental Information) on three occasions and are
now waiting on a response to a request dated November 2019.
“The residents also have concerns
over loss of light in homes, air quality, access to our homes, noise and
disruption during concerts and
many other issues.
“If approved, we would be living in the shadow of this development for the rest of our lives, and
it would have a severe impact on our
quality of life and we are determined
to do all we can to ensure our voices
are heard.”
Minister keen to get motoring on roads projects
SUZANNE McGONAGLE
N
ICHOLA Mallon said she is
“hoping to get movement”
on one of Northern Ireland’s
biggest road schemes after three
years of Stormont “paralysis”.
The SDLP deputy leader said the
Derry-Dublin road upgrade would
be a “big focus” during her tenure,
while the Narrow Water Bridge was
a project she believed “we need to
get focused back on”.
Among her responsibilities
will be making decisions on
significant planning applications
and persistent underfunding of NI
Water, while crucial infrastructure
projects, including the York Street
Interchange and upgrades to the A5
and A6 roads, will also fall into her
in-tray.
“One of the challenges is that I am coming into post
after paralysis for three years, so there is a backlog
of issues and decisions that have to be taken”
Nichola Mallon, above
With costs set to run into millions
of pounds, Ms Mallon said she
recognised there will be complex
issues ahead.
“One of the challenges is that I am
coming into post after paralysis for
three years, so there is a backlog of
issues and decisions that have to be
taken,” she said.
“Also coming into a situation
where there has been significant
under-investment in infrastructure,
so there are some very pressing
issues.”
She said one of the biggest projects
will be the A5, but she is “hoping to
get movement on site as quickly as I
can on that”.
But with delays of around 10 years,
she said she recognised it had
been “very long in the process”
and she could “understand a lot of
people’s frustrations with the delay
in things”.
“It is moving to public inquiry very
shortly and I would hope that we
would see some movement on that
very soon,” she said.
Ms Mallon also said the A6 road was
“definitely there on my radar”
as well as the York Street
Interchange.
“There was a legal challenge around
procurement and now there has
to be a new procurement process,
we are seeing slippage of timelines
there as well,” she said.
“But certainly the Westlink is a
problem, it’s a huge issue for traffic
congestion.”
Narrow Water Bridge, linking
counties Down and Louth, is
another project to fall onto Ms
Mallon’s desk.
After planning permission was
granted in 2012 and funding secured
from the EU and governments on
both sides of the border, the project
was shelved in 2013 after it emerged
costs had been significantly
underestimated.
Despite an eleventh-hour bid to
meet the shortfall, the withdrawal
of EU funding, which led to
Stormont pulling out, saw the
proposal collapse.
But Ms Mallon said it was
“something that we were pushing
for”.
“It really will enhance tourism in
that region and it will also protect
the natural environment – three
very important tests,” she said.
“What I would hope to do is review
the business case on that and then
begin a very proactive conversation
with my ministerial counterpart
in the south and with the Irish
government.
“I understand that there have been
minor works in the south to try and
keep the application alive.”