Works dispute settled, final Páirc Uí Chaoimh redevelopment bill runs just shy of €100m

Cork GAA’s settling of a payment dispute with an electrical contractor has contributed to an increase in the stadium redevelopment bill.

Tue, 13 Dec, 2022 - 18:00

Eoghan Cormican

Cork GAA’s settling of a payment dispute with an electrical contractor has contributed to a €2.5million increase in the final cost for the redevelopment of Páirc Uí Chaoimh, shoving the final stadium bill to €99.5m.

The 2022 Cork GAA accounts show an additional cost of €2,499,194 for Páirc Uí Chaoimh in the financial year up to September 30. This figure primarily relates to a settlement with One Complete Solution Ltd. OCS, a global facilities management company, were commissioned to carry out electrical works during the stadium rebuild in the middle of the last decade.

In November 2020, Cork GAA brought a High Court challenge arising from an alleged attempt by OCS to seek a further €1m payment for electrical works carried out on the Páirc revamp.

Cork GAA said, at the time, that OCS was eventually paid €7.1m for electrical works. Cork GAA also said, however, that some three years after the stadium was handed over by the builders, OCS served notice of its intention to refer a claim for additional payment of €1.02m for electrical works to an adjudicator.

The OSC claim for an additional €1.02m was made up of increased man-hour rates, delay, changed conditions, ad hoc piecemeal works and "containment" or work to cover the electrical works from view.

The High Court case centred on whether an adjudicator had jurisdiction to hear a dispute referred under the 2013 Construction Contracts Act. Cork GAA claimed the appointment of an adjudicator was of no legal effect because the contract with OCS was entered into before the 2013 Act came into operation in July 2016.

The High Court judgement was that the adjudicator did indeed have jurisdiction to hear the dispute as the construction contract governing relations between Cork GAA and OCS postdated the commencement of the 2013 Act.

Following questioning from Freemount GAA club delegate John O’Flynn at Sunday’s annual Cork convention, Board treasurer Diarmuid Gowen confirmed that the €2.5m Páirc Uí Chaoimh cost mentioned in the 2022 accounts related, in part, to a settlement with OCS.

“It’s all in relation to Páirc Uí Chaoimh, but whether it is actually specifically 100% related to the OCS, I don’t have that actual breakdown. But yes, it is extra costs and additions on Páirc Uí Chaoimh,” said Gowen.

When O’Flynn referenced media reports from 2020 stating OCS were seeking an additional €1m payment, having already been paid €7m, Gowen replied, “they were looking for a lot more than that”.

Now that dealings with OCS have been finalised, O’Flynn called on the Páirc Uí Chaoimh steering committee to explain why OCS were originally appointed as electrical contractors for the Páirc Uí Chaoimh redevelopment.

“We all know what happened subsequently and the extra costs and issues that arose,” O’Flynn added.

The Freemount delegate asked the treasurer how much of the Páirc Uí Chaoimh overrun is attributable to electrical contracting costs. Gowen said he did not have that information to hand. O’Flynn remarked that he hoped the relevant figures would be provided at the county board’s first meeting of 2023.

Delegates privately expressed annoyance in the wake of Convention that the executive made no mention of the OCS settlement during the year and that no reference would have been made to it at Convention had it not been for repeated questioning from the floor.

When planning permission for the 45,000-capacity stadium was granted in 2014, the redevelopment project was budgeted to cost €70m. But at a special county board meeting in November 2015, clubs were told the final cost would likely exceed €78m.

In December 2017, then outgoing county board chairman Ger Lane confirmed to the Irish Examiner that the final bill for redevelopment would run over €86m, €16m above the initial estimated cost when contractors were appointed to the project.

Twelve months later, Croke Park stadium director Peter McKenna told the Irish Examiner that “we’re probably close to €110m as a final cost” for the Páirc Uí Chaoimh rebuild.

An extensive audit of county board accounts by stadium board members Michael O’Flynn and Tom Gray put the estimated cost of the stadium redevelopment at €95.8m, in February 2019. The most up-to-date figure is now touching €100m.

Debt arising from the rebuild currently stands at €32m. The 2022 Cork GAA accounts show €21,056,000 is owed to Bank of Ireland, while a further €11m is being repaid to Croke Park.