Renaming Páirc Uí Chaoimh paused for further talks after public backlash

County Board met behind closed doors on Tuesday to discuss the proposal to rebrand the stadium as part of its sponsorship deal with SuperValu

The suggestion that Páirc Uí Chaoimh could be renamed as part of a sponsorship deal has provoked a major backlash. Picture: Eddie O’Hare

A proposal to rename Páirc Uí Chaoimh has been paused for further talks after a public backlash over plans to rebrand it as SuperValu Páirc.

At a behind-closed-doors meeting of the county board on Tuesday night, delegates told the Cork GAA executive that a compromise must be reached to retain the Páirc Uí Chaoimh name in any deal with the supermarket giant. 

SuperValu was not agreeable to Páirc Uí Chaoimh being retained in the new stadium title during initial negotiations with Cork GAA, the Irish Examiner understands.

However, a fresh statement released by Cork GAA, following 24 hours of criticism over the proposal to rename the venue SuperValu Páirc, said no new stadium name had been finalised.

The statement confirmed that talks with SuperValu are ongoing and said both sides have been "conscious of the public debate" over the last 24 hours.

A number of delegates have said SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh would be an acceptable alternative in the renaming process.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin and the grandson of Pádraig Ó Caoimh, the legendary GAA administrator after whom the stadium is named, were among the many who expressed outrage over the SuperValu Páirc renaming, which was raised at a Cabinet meeting yesterday.

Mr Martin said he was "deeply disappointed and annoyed" at the proposed rebranding which is part of a proposed multi-layered naming rights deal for the stadium, worth between €250,000 and €300,000 a year to Cork GAA over an initial three-year period.

He told Cabinet ministers that the government now needs to look at how it manages State funding for stadiums in the future, given that €30m of taxpayers' money was allocated to the Páirc Uí Chaoimh redevelopment project in 2014 without conditions attached on future naming rights.

Three other companies — Boston Scientific, Statkraft, and PepsiCo — will also have subsidiary stadium branding privileges as part of the total package, which is understood to be worth in the region of €1m up to 2026.

Mr Ó Caoimh’s grandson, Dónal, said he was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the proposal to drop his name grandfather’s name from the stadium, and learned about it through the media.

He said nobody from the GAA reached out to him to tell him it was being considered. Dónal said: 

My grandfather embodied the empathy, hospitality, and community spirit that is the essence of the GAA. 

“His dream was inclusivity: to have a GAA-owned pitch in every parish.

“Under his stewardship, the GAA became the biggest amateur association of its kind in the world.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh is named after Pádraig Ó Caoimh, who is credited with transforming the GAA in his role as general secretary from 1929 to 1964. 

“The gateway is open for the sale of our heritage and narrative for profit.

“My grandfather’s story inspires young players to dream.

“You take away the absence of focus on money and corporations from games and you have lost what makes the GAA unique.

The cornerstone of the organisation is volunteerism, not corporations.

“The fact that the Cork County Board meeting will be held behind closed doors for the first time is profoundly undemocratic.

“I have faith that Páirc Uí Chaoimh will forever retain its original name in the hearts and minds of the people of Cork. I understand the importance of raising funds for the sustainability of the GAA but there needs to be sensitivity to history.” 

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Cork GAA has a debt of some €30m arising out of the stadium redevelopment.

The chief executive of Cork GAA, Kevin O’Donovan, said it has a responsibility to ensure a firm financial footing for the organisation.

“A major opportunity to ensure the success of Cork GAA, supported by One Cork, was a wider commercial strategy,” he said in a statement.

“This includes naming rights for the biggest asset within its control, Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

“However, it must be pointed out that any funding from such an arrangement will be used to help ensure that our games, from Rebel Óg to Inter-county, continue to grow in the years ahead.”