SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh: Family welcomes 'compromise' around Cork stadium renaming

Dónal Ó Caoimh: 'I am happy today that common sense has prevailed.' Picture: Larry Cummins

The renaming of Cork's premier GAA stadium "safeguards" the recognition of Pádraig Ó Caoimh's contribution to the organisation.

The Ó Caoimh family has welcomed the compromise after it was announced on Wednesday that the stadium was to be renamed SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh as part of a new 10-year deal.

The Irish Examiner first reported plans for the stadium to be renamed SuperValu Páirc earlier this month.

That revealed a multi-layered naming rights deal for Páirc Uí Chaoimh, worth between €250,000 and €300,000 a year to Cork GAA. However, the proposal was paused for further talks after a public backlash over the plans.

Pádraig Ó Caoimh's grandson, Dónal, learned about the original renaming proposal through the media. He expressed concern about the removal of Mr Ó Caoimh's name from the stadium.

However, he has now welcomed the compromise deal announced on Wednesday morning.

"I am happy today that common sense has prevailed and that the Cork GAA and SuperValu have reached a compromise: SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh," Dónal said.

Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

"This compromise helps promote the financial stability of the games as well as protect our heritage and the values of the GAA: inclusiveness, community spirit, and sense of identity and place. Values that my grandfather Pádraig Ó Caoimh embodied.

"The stadium was named after my grandfather in recognition for his contribution to the GAA and Irish society.

"This new agreed 10-year sponsorship deal with SuperValu safeguards that honour.

It was vital to me that open and transparent debate took place on the issue of naming rights.

"The public discourse and debate that took place in the media and in houses across the country since the story broke in the Irish Examiner is evidence of a well-functioning democracy and I am grateful to everyone who contributed to this."

Cork GAA chief executive Kevin O'Donovan said a plan had been in place to speak to the Ó Caoimh family before news of the renaming broke in the Irish Examiner.

"We had a special plan in place to communicate with the family. We had special plans to commemorate Paddy Ó Caoimh within the stadium. But all of those were derailed," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.

He said Cork GAA has been engaged with the family since the news broke and they are "incredibly positive" about the new stadium name and that a good deal has been done.

Meanwhile, the deal could net over €3m for Cork GAA. The stadium's debt remains over €30m primarily due to no concerts being staged at the venue last year.

Who was Pádraig Ó Caoimh?

Pádraig Ó Caoimh was born in Roscommon in 1898 but moved to Cork City at an early age, and by 1911, is recorded as living with his family on Quaker Road.

He died in 1964. The Cork GAA stadium was opened in 1974 and named in his honour.

Pádraig Ó Caoimh

During the Irish War of Independence, he served with A Company (University Company), 2nd Battalion, No 1 Brigade, and in 1929, he was appointed secretary of the GAA, aged 31.

He helped organise the Tailteann Games and the Eucharistic Congress in Croke Park in 1932, helped stage the 1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Final in the Polo Grounds, New York, and crucially, he spearheaded a drive to have a GAA-owned pitch in every parish.

The number of pitches increased from 1,500 clubs in 1929 to more than 3,000 by 1963, with 400 grounds owned and properly vested in the GAA.