Tony Leen: So where does Cork GAA turn to next to fund Páirc debt?

SELLOUT: Páirc Ui Chaoimh was packed for the visit of South Africa to play Munster. Pic: Ben Brady, Inpho

ONCE the agreement for the SuperValu naming rights of Páirc Ui Chaoimh is tagged and bagged by County Board delegates Thursday night, Cork GAA CEO Kevin O’Donovan might afford himself a brief moment’s respite before channelling his inner Jed Bartlett and wondering: What’s next?

The Páirc’s naming rights was the standout money-generating option readymade in Cork GAA’s locker and while €4.25m, or thereabouts, over the next ten years is welcome, it leaves Cork still ‘fighting on all fronts’, as O’Donovan put it Wednesday, to put a meaningful hole in their annual repayments and the burdensome €30m stadium development debt.

Given the increased spend on inter-county teams and coaching development in the county, chances are that the proceeds from the Páirc deal will be projected in that direction. But that’s not the only reason. More than once O’Donovan has identified their core business – winning matches – as the single biggest driver of crowds, and revenue, to the stadium.

“There is a legacy debt of over €30 million still on the stadium from the construction process. (So) we are fighting that on all fronts, we have continued to do so, and we will continue to do so by growing our games, by winning All-Irelands, by engaging commercial parties so we are on a war footing on all fronts to redress the balance,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme.

That’s not to suggest, of course, that other commercial and property opportunities are not being pursued and explored. The 36-acre bank of development land at Kilbarry on the northside of the city is still mired in Bord Pleanala delays but planning permission for over 300 homes would be an attractive proposition for any developer. 

O’Donovan says this is ‘a key element of the financial security of Cork GAA and the ongoing stabilisation of our finances’. The expectation is that a ‘clean’ site with requisite planning permission would realise between €7-10m for the Board.

Though events at Páirc Ui Chaoimh, such as Saturday’s rugby game between Munster and the Crusaders, and May’s Bruce Springsteen concert, are welcome in terms of their global audience, they only realise stadium rental income to the tune of around €250,000 per gig for Cork GAA. They are the only two events slated for Páirc Ui Chaoimh in 2024.

The future of Páirc Ui Rinn, meanwhile, is a hot potato few have had the stomach to grapple with just yet but the Boreenmanna Road facility is arguably the most valuable piece of real estate in the possession of Cork GAA. That is lost on no-one.

It’s 35 years since Frank Murphy, the then Cork secretary, conducted the steal of the century by purchasing the old Flower Lodge from the proceeds of a couple of Michael Jackson concerts. It has served Cork GAA remarkably well as a workhorse venue, heavily trafficked while the main stadium was under redevelopment, and since.

Around the same time, certainly in the early nineties, the deeds were offered to the Cork GAA top brass to consider the purchase of a parcel of land at Curaheen, on what is now the South link carriage way. 

The benefit of hindsight casts it in a different perspective but the proposed €600m local authority programme of BusConnects Cork, designed to transform the city’s bus system, could develop into a awkward complication for Pairc Ui Rinn and its use if plans for the Borenmanna Road area were to advance.

The public consultation phase of the proposal is now closed and Cork GAA are anxiously watching the next step. Explained Kevin O’Donovan last month: “It is widely accepted that Páirc Uí Rinn has served as a key infrastructural unit in our organisation over many decades. It has served as an essential matchday venue, a key training venue for county teams and is a vital support facility for Páirc Uí Chaoimh. However, the current Busconnects proposals now raise a major question mark over its viability as a match venue. The removal of parking Boreenmana Road will simply mean that the stadium cannot facilitate the needs of any competitive fixture in terms of access and parking. Therefore, major decisions will soon arise as we consider the future of the stadium.”

Sabre-rattling or no?

Pairc Ui Rinn backs onto Cork Constitution’s Temple Hill base, which was the subject of a lucrative proposed land swap 17 years ago which would have netted the rugby club an eye-watering amount to sell the 12-acre site. The club agreed to the deal but planning issues at their proposed Ballyorban base scuppered the move. 

Cork Con are joined with Cork GAA in their representations to Government on the new bus lanes as they too would face untenable traffic and parking problems if it was green-lighted. Needless to say, either would represent a valuable parcel of land for future development - as the nearby Telecom site sale and development underlined.

It would make the current controversy over SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh seem like a minor spat if Cork GAA were ever to consider selling off one of their most prized assets, but O’Donovan’s comments on the matter certainly indicated that the ground’s future is on the table.

In the meantime, bringing Munster rugby to the stadium on a regular loop is a priority. Limerick, and its business community, has steadfastly hung onto the lucrative St Stephen’s Day visit of rivals Leinster, but with whispers of other big fish a possibility for Thomond Park in 2025, the clamour for Cork to get a piece of the action will only grow louder.

So what’s next?