Ulster Unionist MLA Mike Nesbitt has expressed his deep disappointment at the news that the Commonwealth Youth Games will not be coming to Northern Ireland in 2021.

Mike Nesbitt MLA, Chair of the All Party Group on Sport and Recreation, said:

“I am deeply sorry it has come to this. Ultimately, this is about political failure. No one can be in any doubt the support was there for staging these Games, as evidenced by the unanimous backing when the idea was debated in the Assembly. Had there been an Executive, I am entirely confident the funds would have been approved. So, the Commonwealth Youth Games becomes the latest victim of our collective inability to find a way to share this piece of planet Earth, with the consequent reputational damage for Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom.

“I am angry that the final straw was a technical blockage arising from the Department of the Economy’s assessment of a business case which they refused to share with the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council. How are you supposed to fix something when you are not told what is broken?

“Now that the Games have been lost, there is a need for a forensic examination of what went wrong, who made the decisions and how long did it take to decide. On that basis I have submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Department asking for confirmation that over a year passed between the business case arriving in the Department and the Minister offering his view.

“I want to thank Robert McVeigh and Conal Heatley, the Chair and Business Manager of the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council and their colleagues, who have given so freely of their time to try to bring the youth representing a third of the world’s population, to the City of Belfast. Their intentions, energy and commitment are beyond question. They did not deserve to be let down like this.”