Plans for a number of new sports centres across Northern Ireland - to be delivered ahead of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games - have been shelved.

According to the BBC, the decision came after it was announced that the Department of Arts, Culture and Leisure (DCAL) was facing a £50m budget cut between 2011-15. Schemes that have now been shelved include a cycling velodrome in Downpatrick; a tennis centre at Hillsborough; a sailing facility at Ballyholme; and an athletics track in Antrim.

A new basketball centre development in Lisburn was also mothballed, with DCAL minister Nelson McCausland arguing that none had produced a "satisfactory business case". McCausland told the BBC: "When [the plans] were scrutinised by Sport Northern Ireland and by the economists internally, it became clear that there were significant issues that needed to be reviewed.

"I fought very hard for sport in our capital programme and, over the next four years, we will have £130m of capital spend on sports infrastructure in Northern Ireland."