Irish Examiner view: Munster should be playing Leinster in Páirc Uí Chaoimh 

Thomond Park is more than an apt setting for the St Stephen's Day URC clash — but the Cork GAA County Board has dropped the ball by not offering its HQ for the provincial rugby face-off

Munster took on a South Africa Select XV at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in November 2022, and Cork's home of GAA will be used for another rugby game in 2024. Picture: Ben Brady/Inpho 

Rugby at Páirc Uí Chaoimh  

It seems that both the Munster Branch of the IRFU and the Cork GAA County Board have missed a big opportunity by not utilising the debt-ridden Páirc Uí Chaoimh for today’s tantalising clash between Munster and Leinster in the United Rugby Championship.

The match will take place this afternoon in Thomond Park in front of a capacity crowd of 25,600 and undoubtedly it will be the seething cauldron Munster desire as they try to capitalise on the ground’s legendary ability to intimidate visiting teams.

However, were the match to be played in front of a sold-out crowd of 45,000 in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, there is little doubt that a vocal Cork crowd could provide a suitable atmosphere to welcome the visitors from Leinster.

The venue has already successfully hosted a rugby friendly against a South African ‘A’ side, which Munster won, and in February it will be used again when Munster play New Zealand side Crusaders in the ‘Clash of the Champions’ between the URC holders and the winners of the Super Rugby Pacific Championship, which is already a sell-out.

As noted last month by Donal Lenihan in the Irish Examiner and on irishexaminer.com, Leinster regularly utilise the Aviva Stadium in Lansdowne Road, rather than their regular home at the RDS, for big games, netting an estimated cash bonus of €600,000 per fixture.

A sum of that nature would considerably boost the coffers of both Munster Rugby and the Cork County Board, who would be paid a generous rent for opening their doors to their rugby counterparts — a sum which might help to put a dent in the €30m debt outstanding on Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Given the appetite the Cork audience has shown for top-line rugby and the fact it has been starved of same for decades, it seems like a no-brainer to give those supporters a little bit more of what they so obviously crave — and boost the finances of both sporting organisations at the same time.

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US Supreme Court thrust into politics

The United States Supreme Court has — to the dismay of some of its nine justices — suddenly become the focal point of former president Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 American presidential election. 

Former US president Donald Trump soaking up the applause of his supporters at a caucus rally in Waterloo, Iowa, just before Christmas. Picture: Charlie Neibergall/AP

No less than three cases stemming from Trump’s part in the riot of January 6, 2021 — when a mob descend on the Capitol buildings in Washington DC, resulting in five people losing their lives and causing millions of dollars of damage — are now before the US Supreme Court.

The first case will be the appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court decision which disqualified Trump’s name from being on the ballot of the state’s presidential primaries for insurrection under the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution and it is potentially the most explosive of the three.

The second is at the request of special counsel Jack Smith who has asked the court to rule on the former president’s immunity defence in the criminal case against him.

Third and less remarked-upon, but every bit as important, is an appeal from January 6 rioters which the court last week decided to hear and which could affect two of the four charges brought by Smith against Trump.

Given that Trump stacked the US Supreme Court benches with his own nominees, the chief justice, John G Roberts Jr, has to decide the best way to proceed and it seems right now he has a choice between seeking political compromise or decide each on its own merits.

Thus far, the US Supreme Court has managed to steer clear of the fight for Trump’s legal and political survival, but that reprieve will not last long as the new year will see it embroiled in battles which could determine its own legitimacy. 

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Donald Tusk is off to a quick start 

Newly-inaugurated Polish prime minister Donald Tusk and his coalition government has lost little time in taking measures to reduce the pervasive influence of the previous administration of the Law and Justice party (PiS) in the country’s media and justice systems.

Poland's President Andrzej Duda  shakes hands with the newly-elected prime minister Donald Tusk during his swearing-in ceremony at the presidential palace in Warsaw. Picture: Czarek Sokolowski/AP

Little over a week after taking power, the new Polish government gutted the top management of the country’s state broadcasting apparatus, making good on a campaign promise to reform a network which functioned primarily as a mouthpiece for the country’s former rulers.

Under PiS, Polish state media stood accused of promoting the party’s policies and launching vicious personal attacks on opposition figures — Tusk in particular — but last week the new parliament adopted a resolution calling for the restoration of “impartiality and reliability of the public media”.

In the wake of that, the new culture minister, Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz, announced the sacking of the chairs and boards of state television, news, and radio, prompting protests from the vanquished former government and much wry amusement from observers who noted the sudden PiS concern about freedom of speech.

Following on from that, the new justice minister, Adam Bodnar, started a process he called “the recovery of the rule of law in Poland” and he cancelled the appointment of six regional court “presidents” appointed by his predecessor just before he left office and considered to be political appointees.

While these changes will undoubtedly help repair the troubled relationship between Poland and the EU which emerged under PiS rule, Tusk and his cohorts will need to be extremely cautious tactically as the country’s president is the PiS-allied Andrzej Duda and he still has a veto on legislative change. 

Right now, Poland is an unusual example of a country which has shunned populism and its seedy right-wing proclivities, but the Tusk administration still has to walk a fine line to successfully pursue its reform policies.