Ulster GAA say they “sympathised with Antrim GAA’s situation” but that the Saffrons must move their Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final against Armagh to Pairc Esler.
Andy McEntee’s side were drawn to be at home for the last-eight meeting on 12 April but Ulster GAA previously stated that their Corrigan Park stadium does now meet the “required health and safety standard to accommodate” the anticipated crowd for the visit of the All-Ireland champions.
With no other suitable venue in the county, Ulster GAA said the situation reiterates the need to resolve the Casement Park redevelopment as “a matter of urgency.”
The decision to stage the game in Newry was taken at a meeting of the Ulster Competitions Control Committee (CCC) on Tuesday afternoon, ending a month of speculation over the venue of the game.
At a previous CCC meeting last month, Corrigan Park was the only venue put forward for the match by Antrim GAA delegates and Saffrons panellist Paddy McBride previously told BBC Sport NI that if the game was not held there, the county would “probably not play it”.
