€1m the cost of glory for Cork

CORK’S run to All-Ireland hurling success pushed inter-county spending this year over €1m, county board accounts show.

The €1.018m outlay was around €200,000 more than 2003, County Secretary Frank Murphy’s annual report shows.

However, Cork remain the richest GAA county in the country, with combined assets of over €15m, one-third of which is set aside for a “grounds development fund.” This will be used in the event of land becoming available at the Showgrounds in Ballintemple which would facilitate a major overhaul of Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The key inter-county team costs this year were meals, €191,250; travel expenses, €147,209; travel and overnights, €105,865; playing gear, equipment and medical, €200,227; sponsored gear and equipment, €131,962, and contribution to players’ tour funds, €149,486.

Mr Murphy also criticised the disciplinary proceedings that followed the flare-up at the end of Cork’s All-Ireland MFC quarter-final draw in Limerick, claiming they “left a lot to be desired.”

“The entire saga and the suspension of two key players had a demoralising effect on the squad, and their performance in the replay at Thurles was somewhat subdued,” he reports to Sunday’s convention.