Delegates informed the Cork GAA executive at a closed-door county board meeting on Tuesday night that any agreement with the grocery behemoth would need to strike a compromise to save the Páirc Uí Chaoimh name.
According to the Irish Examiner, SuperValu did not agree to Páirc Uí Chaoimh being kept in the new stadium title during the early stages of talks with Cork GAA.
After receiving criticism for a full day on the idea to rename the stadium SuperValu Páirc, Cork GAA issued a new statement in which they stated that no new stadium name has been decided upon.
The statement stated that both parties have been “conscious of the public debate” over the past 24 hours and indicated that negotiations with SuperValu are still underway.
SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh has been mentioned by several delegates as a viable substitute during the renaming procedure.
SuperValu Páirc renaming outraged many, including Tánaiste Micheál Martin and the grandson of the renowned GAA administrator Pádraig Ó Caoimh, after whom the stadium is called. The issue was brought up during yesterday's Cabinet meeting.
The planned rebranding, which is a part of a multi-layered naming rights contract for the stadium that would pay Cork GAA between €250,000 and €300,000 a year for the first three years, has left Mr. Martin “deeply disappointed and annoyed.”
Speaking to Cabinet members, he said that because €30 million of public funds was handed to the Páirc Uí Chaoimh rehabilitation project in 2014 without any constraints on future naming rights, the government must now examine how it administers State support for stadiums going forward.
The entire contract, estimated to be valued around €1 million up to 2026, will also provide subsidiary stadium branding opportunities for three other companies: Boston Scientific, Statkraft, and PepsiCo.
Dónal, the grandson of Mr. Ó Caoimh, expressed his amazement and sadness at the intention to remove his grandfather's name from the stadium, saying he found out about it through the media.
He added that no one from the GAA contacted him to let him know that it was being thought about. Dónal stated: “My granddad personified the GAA's core values of empathy, friendliness, and community spirit.”