GAA's Central Council to decide on Páirc Uí Chaoimh as venue for Munster-Crusaders game

The GAA’s Central Council will assess the suitability of Páirc Uí Chaoimh to host Munster’s game with Crusaders next February when it meets on Saturday, July 15.

At Tuesday night’s Cork County Board monthly meeting at the venue, Cork secretary/CEO Kevin O’Donovan said that the game between the URC winners and the Super Rugby champions, scheduled for Saturday, February 3 at 5pm, will take place at the stadium if Central Council grant approval.

Outlining the various criteria where county grounds can host major non-GAA events, O’Donovan felt that that this game, billed as the ‘Clash of Champions’, ticked all the boxes.

Elsewhere, Bride Rovers delegate John Arnold has described as “an absolute insult” a plan to offer county championship season tickets to those aged 66 and over for €100.

Early in the meeting, county board secretary/CEO Kevin O’Donovan told those in attendance that there were 1,102 county board passes in circulation but there were not transferrable and there was strong vigilance with regard to fraud.

Reminding delegates that U16s gain free entry, O’Donovan said that season tickets – entry to all club games – were available at €155 - €150 plus a processing charge of €5 – but that, with games remaining cashless, a reduced season ticket for pensioners was a conciliatory gesture.

Arnold took umbrage with this.

“I’m just sorry that, 14 months after [Youghal delegate] Liam Ó Laochdha raised the issue, I got vibes that that there might be a cash gate reintroduced but I heard it wrong.

“The idea of selling €100 tickets to people over 66 is an absolute insult – ‘We don’t want your cash but fork out a hundred euro at the start of the year. It’s discrimination.’

“We’ve had some bad publicity for the GAA all this year, from headquarters all the way down and tonight is a sad night.

“We’re hearing recently that the European Commission are introducing the digital euro and enshrining in law that cash must be accepted as legal tender across the EU. It would seem that the GAA in Cork is a different entity to the EU.”

In his CCC (competitions control committee) update, board vice-chairperson Pat Horgan said that streaming of games – carried by the Irish Examiner for the past three seasons – would continue for 2023 but that there would be a different partner, to be decided in the coming weeks.

Der O’Regan (Douglas) raised the matter of the club’s relegation from Division 6 to Division 7 in the RedFM Hurling League. Douglas finished level on points with Na Piarsaigh and Barryroe and in normal circumstances, scoring difference would decide the issue, in which case Douglas would have been safe.

However, Na Piaraigh gave a walkover to Tracton and the regulations stipulate the only scoring difference in games between the clubs involved should count.

O’Regan asked, “Are we promoting walkovers?” but Kevin O’Donovan expressed surprised that the issue was brought up as he had spoken to club officers to tell them that Cork were waiting on guidance from the national rules advisory committee. He noted the anomaly and sympathised with Douglas’s position.

Denis Harrington of St Finbarr’s felt that playing three weekends in a row had proven too much for the Cork football team and felt that the GAA must go back to the drawing board.

Kevin O’Donovan said that there was never more consultation regarding fixtures than there is now. “Yes, there are too many games,” he said, “but be wary of suggesting a longer season – the season starts at the end of November when the teams go back training.” Chairperson Marc Sheehan felt that there are opportunities to tweak the fixture list, particularly in January.

“It’s probably the only place that it can be done,” he said. “We need all the weeks available to run the county championships, so the idea of simply pushing the All-Ireland finals out into August will banjax our championships.” Peter Fleming of Argideen Rangers raised the matter of supporters not being allowed on to the Páirc Uí Chaoimh pitch after Cork’s win over Roscommon, contrasting it with the situation at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick the previous week, following the victory against Mayo.

Kevin O’Donovan said: “We have to go with discretion as the better part of valour, but this is about precedent.

“We have to look at league games when the pitch is on its knees – Páirc Uí Chaoimh is probably the most accessible county ground in Ireland when you consider the games that are played here: camogie, ladies’ football, minor and U20, Sciath na Scol. We welcome everyone but the pitch must be looked after.

“Stewards were abused after the Roscommon game, which wasn’t fair – abuse me or my colleagues beside me here. We could leave people on after a game like that what about if we have the Munster hurling final next year with a full house? I can’t stand over a pitch invasion.

“Precedent sounds like a weak answer but it’s my answer. You can talk about other county grounds but if you drill down it might not reflect as well on them.” Asked about a contingency plan where young supporters are able to meet players afterwards, O’Donovan accepted that that should have been done after the Roscommon game and said it was something that would be looked at in future.