Cork GAA paying €100,000 per annum to Páirc Uí Chaoimh for office space

At Tuesday’s Cork convention, treasurer Diarmuid Gowan drew attention to the county board paying over €96,000 per year to Páirc Uí Chaoimh for office space

A general view of Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

Cork County Board is paying almost €100,000 per annum to Páirc Uí Chaoimh to rent office space at the stadium.

At Tuesday’s Cork convention, treasurer Diarmuid Gowan drew attention to the fact that the county board is handing over €96,000 per year to Páirc Uí Chaoimh for office space within the stadium used by the board. The rent payment breaks down at exactly €8,000 per month.

Cork GAA has been paying the €96,000 sum, to a stadium it owns, on an annual basis since 2022, with €88,000 paid in “rent of office” the year previous in 2021.

Over the past five years, a total of €472,000 has been handed over by the county board to Páirc Uí Chaoimh in rent.

Rent of Páirc Uí Chaoimh office space came in at just €4,420 during the 2020 Covid year, while the rent payment from Cork GAA to Páirc Uí Chaoimh totaled €20,749 in 2019.

When commenting on administration expenses at Tuesday’s convention, Gowan said “one of the more significant figures in this schedule is the €96,000 of office rent that relates to our commitment to reimburse the stadium for office space used by Cork county board over a 12-month period”.

Gowan called the year-on-year reduction in team expenses by €178k a “major achievement”, noting how “major efforts” are underway to further identify areas of potential saving.

Cork’s team expenses bill for 2025 came in at €2.208m, with spend in the categories of player mileage, team manager and selectors, physiotherapy costs, meals, catering and nutrition, facility hire, medical, team holiday, and training camps all down on the corresponding 2024 costs.

“Major efforts are being made to examine costs with a goal not necessarily to reduce costs, but to minimise the escalation of them and to ensure revenues are not being wasted,” said the Cork treasurer.

“As in the prior year, we are presently discussing with various team managers in relation to the stemming of the escalation of these costs in 2026.

“The costs and the running of teams are constantly increasing around the country, with the expectations which are ever increasing. Every county in the country has seen increases here, but this hasn't happened [in Cork], and I would emphasise that no stone is left unturned in satisfying the teams' demand in the preparation of the teams.

“But purely because of the huge proportion of the costs incurred, we are committed to taking in-depth reviews on inter-county preparation in regard specifically to costs and identifying areas of possible saving without necessarily impacting on inter-county performance.” 

During the discussion on the sole motion brought before convention, which was to amend a transfer byelaw so that a player can only transfer to the ‘first club' of his father if that club operates at a lower grade to the one which he is seeking to leave, Whitechurch delegate Tim Mulcahy said the rule in its current guise had become an “escape route for players who think they might be feeling a bit superior to their classmates and their teammates”.

At the beginning of the year, Cork senior hurler Micheál Mullins transferred from Whitechurch, a junior club, to Premier Senior side Glen Rovers. Mulcahy mentioned no player when arguing for the byelaw amendment.

“If this motion was to be brought to fruition, it would close this loophole and give the club a small bit of control over their players,” Mulcahy added.

The motion was subsequently carried, meaning players can no longer transfer up in grade to the ‘first club’ of their father.

Castlehaven, who have players lining out for them through the first club of their father rule, argued against the motion.

“The numbers in our national schools are drastically falling. Union Hall national school this year, there were seven started, five in Castlehaven. Last year, it was five in Union Hall and four in Castlehaven. If those numbers maintain, we will be struggling down the line, we'll be heading for amalgamations,” said Sean O’Neill of Castlehaven.

Elsewhere, it was proposed by Munster Council delegate Joseph Blake that the top table consider home and away fixtures for county championship group games.

At present, all three rounds of the Cork county championship group phase are played at neutral grounds. Blake’s suggestion is that Rounds 1 and 2 are played home and away, with Round 3 games staged at neutral venues.

“A lot of clubs over recent years have invested a lot of finances into their facilities, but unfortunately, due to their geographical location, they don’t get games.

“It is ironic how clubs, for example Cill na Martra, are able to host Munster Club matches, but they are not allowed to play home [county championship] games on their own pitch. My own club, Adrigole, this year we played three group games and the nearest of those was an hour away.

“All I am asking is that at the start of next year that a committee might be put in place to look at this where we could have games at home, away, and neutral venues, and we might look at trialing it, at a grade like intermediate, in 2027.” 

Chairman Pat Horgan said the Competitions Control Committee didn’t find favour with the suggestion for 2026, but can revisit the proposal ahead of the 2027 season.