Rebels have a right to expect Cork home matches to be in the Páirc

THE one absolute, we were told, when Páirc Uí Chaoimh was rebuilt at lavish expense, was that Cork GAA now had a stadium to reflect its status as a GAA powerhouse.

A mini-Croke Park, aside from the hefty price-tag, much of the criticism it attracted from outside Rebel county could be attributed to jealousy. While there was no Centre of Excellence to go with it, the astro pitch has since proven vital for running development squad trials, underage blitzes and hosting social GAA, club and school matches.

Unfortunately, issues with the surface meant it wasn't long after the reopening in 2017 that it had to be temporarily closed again. Since that costly overhaul, the Páirc holds up in any conditions. During the 2020 Covid championship, Limerick beat Tipp there in a hurricane.

Now, just when Cork GAA has been praised for its revamped club championship format, for hosting senior camogie and ladies football games, and making strides with minor and U20 All-Ireland titles, it's in the crosshairs again because of Ed Sheeran.

That two huge Cork matches, the hurlers' latest battle with Clare and an Old Firm football semi-final, can't be hosted by the Atlantic Pond has infuriated many supporters. Now the Cork County Board can argue that the earlier scheduling of the inter-county season wasn't on the agenda when they agreed to the two concerts in late April, but the optics are terrible.

Hurling manager Kieran Kingston was as diplomatic as you'd expect when asked about giving up home advantage in the Munster round-robin series: "Cork supporters like going to Thurles, tickets won’t be an issue, and the player group is happy to play in Thurles.

“Being brutally honest, if you had a straw poll tomorrow among the Cork players about playing in Cork or Thurles it’d be 50-50.” 

Clearly switching to Páirc Uí Rinn, with a max attendance of 15,000, would have caused huge ticket issues but now the Rebels' only game on home soil is their toughest, against Limerick.

Speaking on The 42 podcast, All-Star keeper Anthony Nash certainly wasn't impressed by the decision.

“We love playing in Thurles, absolutely. Thurles is class. But if you were offering a Cork player a game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh or Thurles, the straw poll wouldn’t be 50/50.

"Cork could beat Clare in Thurles and all of this could be swept under the carpet but the idea of it is shocking. Clare will be delighted to go to Thurles. I’ve no issue with them having concerts. But have concerts when it is guaranteed there will be no matches there.” 

It could be a short summer; if Cork finish outside of the top three in the province they won't play beyond May 22 against Tipp at Semple Stadium.

And as Michael Moynihan stated in the Irish Examiner, Clare now have an advantage over every other county, not just Cork, by having only one away game. The only upside for the Rebels is that the dates for the Munster series have been rejigged, so they don't have to play three weekends in a row anymore.

DEMAND

And what of the footballers using Páirc Uí Rinn? 

Just 18,265 were at the 2019 Cork-Kerry Munster final in the Páirc, so 15,000 should suffice for a semi where the hosts will be complete outsiders. New manager Keith Ricken has a callow panel and as Cork CEO Kevin O'Donovan explained at the recent board meeting, opting to head to Fitzgerald Stadium wasn't fair on them.

“For a semi-final this year, with Cork facing challenging times in football, a judgment call was made and we said the team would have to come first in this one. Us sending down a young team to Killarney, after last year's result, was considered, and I would be strongly of the view that Cork will be welcoming Kerry to Páirc Uí Rinn all guns blazing."

The atmosphere will be unique for a Cork-Kerry joust in the old Flower Lodge.

Ciarán Murphy summed it well in his Irish Times column though: "The Páirc was built to host Cork and Kerry games in the Munster senior football championship. That is its raison d’être. 

"And if welcoming the Kingdom once every two years isn’t its main purpose on this planet, then what the hell is?"