CORK’S LARGEST STADIUM will be renamed “SuperValu Pairc Uí Chaoimh” with immediate effect following a Cork GAA County Board meeting this evening.
Yesterday, Cork GAA confirmed it intended to rename Páirc Uí Chaoimh to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh as part of a 10-year partnership with the retailer.
Earlier this month, reports of plans to rename the stadium “Supervalu Páirc” drew national criticism from GAA fans, politicians, as well as the grandson of Pádraig Ó Caoimh, who fought for Irish independence and was General Secretary of the GAA.
The renaming situation was also discussed at a meeting of Cabinet, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar stating that work would be done to ensure that stadiums that have received substantial sports capital grants from the State cannot be renamed for commercial reasons without government sign-off.
The government allocated €30 million towards the development of the stadium.
Cork GAA said yesterday that naming rights will be finalised at a special meeting of delegates to the Cork County Board.
That meeting of club delegates to the Cork County Board took place this evening.
A statement from Cork GAA said: “They voted unanimously to support the renaming of the stadium as “SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh”, effective immediately.”
Speaking yesterday to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland earlier, Cork GAA CEO Kevin O’Donovan rejected the suggestion that the revised name was a “climb down”.
“We were going through a process and unfortunately there was a leak before we got to organise a consultation process with our clubs,” he said.
“We had no communication with Government throughout this process, but we’re sure they’re happy and we’re happy and all parties are happy now with the outcome,” he added.
He also said the plan to communicate the renaming of the stadium to the Ó Caoimh family was “derailed by the leak”.
“We had a special plan in place to communicate with the family, we had special plans to commemorate Pádraig Ó Caoimh within the stadium, but all of those were derailed because there was a leak,” O’Donovan said.
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