Clubs react to the agreement reached over naming rights of Páirc Uí Chaoimh

IN the end, a compromise was reached as Páirc Uí Chaoimh will now be known as SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh for the next ten years.

The matter is expected to be finalised at a special meeting tomorrow night. It was suggested a number of weeks ago that the venue would become SuperValu Páirc but that caused negative feedback forcing the parties involved to go back into talks. 

It was largely agreed that while Cork GAA require the money to aid the stadium that has a debt north of €30 million, losing the Uí Chaoimh in the venue name wasn’t the best move.

Macroom chairman Mark O’Sullivan has expressed his pleasure that the iconic name will be retained in full.

“It was a shock when the news came out first a few weeks ago,” he said.

“But look, I am glad that the board has rowed back on those initial plans. They discussed it further. Look there is a lot of history attached to the name as well as the stadium. My own opinion is that we have to be realistic about the debt. We have to come up with ways of raising funds and I think the compromise on the name is a big help rather than SuperValu Páirc. The name SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh sounds better, it’s a step in the right direction. At the end of the day, I will always refer to it as the Páirc. What supporter is going to call it SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh? It will only be called that with the media.

“We have to move with the times as well, there are a lot of other GAA stadiums that have sponsorship deals. I would praise the County Board for not pressing ahead with their plans a few weeks ago, they opened it up as a wider discussion. The optics are definitely a lot better."

St Vincent’s PRO Mick Nugent had mixed emotions about the new name on the iconic stadium when he spoke to The Echo.

“The clubs view would be to fully retain Páirc Uí Chaoimh,” Nugent says.

“In light of this announcement on Wednesday morning that it’s going to be SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, the club will be discussing that now at a meeting ahead of the special County Board meeting on Thursday night to ratify the new name. The club is a nationalist republican-minded club in our makeup. Pádraig Ó Caoimh did trojan work as secretary for the GAA and he was a visionary and was an Irish volunteer. People were upset that his name was going to be removed, at least now his name will be retained.

“My feeling would be that it should be Páirc Uí Chaoimh SuperValu, which would be the correct Irish. I can see the stadium is in debt and looking for sponsorship and it’s a great deal for both parties. The club's view as it stands is that it should remain Páirc Uí Chaoimh. But now with this announcement, we will have to meet as a club and discuss the matter. Also, it’s a ten-year deal, what happens after that? Does it revert or do they go out and look for new sponsorship? It’s a bit messy.”