Kevin O'Donovan: Munster 'a dream' to work with throughout historic Páirc Uí Chaoimh event

BIG SUCCESS: Munster's Edwin Edogbo celebrates with fans after the historic game at Cork GAA HQ. Pic: ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

Cork GAA CEO Kevin O’Donovan has said Munster Rugby were a “dream” to work with in the build up to and during last Thursday’s historic Munster-South Africa fixture at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Commenting on the first ever rugby game played at the home of Cork GAA, O’Donovan hailed the event as a “big success”.

“Munster were so professional and so courteous to deal with it. That’s not easy, to be ultra-professional, but also really courteous. They were a dream team to work with,” remarked O’Donovan.

The Cork secretary explained that stadium capacity was limited to 41,500 for the rugby game because of overcrowding that occurred at the front of either terrace at the end of the Liam Miller tribute game four years ago. It will take another three high-demand games at the Ballintemple venue before the full 45,000 capacity is restored.

“At the Liam Miller event, all the supporters in the terraces gravitated towards the front of the terrace to get signatures from their heroes. It meant there was a little bit of crowding and vomitories on the day. On that basis, the fire officer recommended that we establish the capacity at the lower level of 41,500, and then we increase it subsequently as the matches come in and we graduate back to the full 45,000.

“It is our full intention to get back to 45,000, increasing it by 500 per match in each terrace. That means capacity goes back up 1,000 each time to get back to our full capacity.” 

As reported in Wednesday's Examiner, the Cork executive will bring a motion to next month’s county convention proposing that the minor age grade be returned to U18 at club level, with full decoupling, despite several Cork clubs being stridently opposed to a decoupled U18 minor grade.

In the same motion, the Cork executive is recommending minor at inter-county level be restored to U18, as well as keeping the U20 inter-county age grade and introducing it as the last age grade at club level before adult.

On foot of a query as to why the club and inter-county age grades aren’t being dealt with in separate motions, O’Donovan said they were being locked together on account of Croke Park having informed counties that county committees are being limited to one motion for congress.

“We got correspondence saying that counties were limited to one motion per county convention and one motion from a county committee for annual congress. That’s news to me, because you could have one county at Congress some years and they’d have three motions one after another. I want to check out that limitation. But if there is a risk we can only bring one motion, we definitely need to lock them.” 

The Cork secretary did promise that if a decoupled U18 minor grade is voted in then Cork “would seek all possible derogations, or all possible avenues under championship regulations to unlock some of the blockages and the challenges facing smaller clubs”.