Light at end of tunnel as Páirc sorts snags to host club finals

Páirc Uí Chaoimh stadium manager Bob Ryan says the venue is dealing with the “snags to be expected on a project of this size” but says the stadium will be open for the business end of the local club championships.

“The plan is for the semi-finals of the senior hurling championship to be played here on October 8,” Ryan said yesterday. “The senior football county final will be played the following Sunday, October 15, and the senior hurling final the Sunday after that, October 22.

“At present, we’re finalising everything — we have to get people and materials offsite in order to finally take over, and we’d expect to be dealing with various snags over the next few months, which are only to be expected on a job of this size.” Ryan instanced the commissioning of the stadium floodlights as a typical item which needs time to be finished properly.

“We’re starting to have the floodlights tested to make sure they’re ok, that they’re working properly for the pitches.

“Philips, the company responsible, are on site today to start that process, but commissioning could take up to 10 days to complete.

“You’re talking about aiming a couple of hundred light-fittings at the proper areas of the playing area, and that’s a hugely technical challenge because it’s an IT-driven system on the main pitch. It’s not like flicking a light switch on in the backyard, it takes a good deal of work.”

The Cork County Board had its first delegates’ meeting in the stadium last night. Ryan stressed that the venue is “actively open for business” and has hosted some significant events already.

“We had the delegates down last week from the UNESCO International Conference on Learning Cities, and we also hosted the Cork Chamber Business Breakfast two weeks ago.

“There were 300 people there, the biggest breakfast they ever had, which shows that we’re able to accommodate big events, and we’re open for business.”