Ulster Council rubber-stamps Casement Park stadium move

Image caption, Casement Park will undergo a major redevelopment

The re-development of Casement Park has taken a significant step forward with the news that the GAA has accepted the letter of offer of 拢61.4m from the Northern Ireland Executive.

The GAA's National Management Committee met at Croke Park on Wednesday night and the Ulster Council met at its Armagh headquarters on Thursday night.

The move means that a new 40,000-seater stadium is now a step closer.

Croke Park's agreed contribution is believed to be around the 拢15m mark.

Last week it was revealed that the commencement of the re-development of the west Belfast stadium had been delayed until near the end of 2013, a year later than anticipated.

The work on the stadium is expected to last for 21 months and is expected to be completed by September 2015.

The total budget for the project is in the region of 拢76.4m.

The extent of the contribution from Croke Park has still to be finalised as the Ulster Council is still in discussions with Central GAA.

An invitation for tenders revealed the timeline for the design, planning application and construction of a stadium which will replace St Tiernach's Park Clones as the new headquarters of Ulster GAA.