by JENNY MONROE
LISBURN'S
Mayor has written to the Prime Minister asking him to take the
National Stadium out of the hands of the Assembly.
This follows speculation that a deal had been
agreed to suspend a decision on the National Stadium for four
years. Councillor Ronnie Crawford explained that he wrote the
letter as a last resort". The whole matter should eventually be
investigated by the Public Accounts Committee at Westminster and
that is the next step," said Mr Crawford.
In the letter Mr Crawford writes: "The
Stadium was designed to be an icon of the renewed hope for a
positive future and would offer a stadium for soccer, rugby and
gaelic games.
"Sadly the new Assembly has taken every
possible action to undermine the project and the speculation now
is, that after years of wilful delay, plans for the new stadium
are to be scrapped."
He tells the Prime Minister Gordon Brown that
he believes that the "vast majority of the people" in Northern
Ireland are "very much in favour of the National Stadium".
"Indeed Lisburn City Council, in whose area the site lies, has
voted unanimously in its support," he said.
Mr Crawford suggested Mr Brown place the
building of the National Stadium in the hands of the Olympic
Delivery Authority so as to "ensure that the Stadium can be in
use by 2012".
He added: "Alternatively, you could arrange
for a Maze Development Corporation to be set up so that the its
development is not subjected to the type of political
discrimination from which it is now suffering."
He concluded: "A new multi-sports National
Stadium is exactly what Northern Ireland needs and you will have
the grateful support of the vast majority of the people of
Northern Ireland if you will now take action to ensure that our
local politicians are no longer allowed to sabotage this
exciting project."
jenny.monroe@jpress.co.uk
Ulster Star
26/12/2008
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