The Cork County GAA Board will continue a strong run of financial results for the sport when it announces an annual surplus of €1.37 million at its annual convention on Saturday night.
The biggest single contributor to the figure was the hosting of a Bruce Springsteen concert at Pairc Uí Caoimh in the summer. Last year’s surplus was almost €1 million less at €380,000.
The good run of Cork’s senior hurling team through high profile and well attended qualifiers and the eventual replay of the All Ireland Hurling Championship final added to the levels of activity around the county GAA scene over the course of the summer.
Income from investments was also up over the course of the year with funds transferred from commercial bonds to the GAA itself which was able to deliver a higher rate of return on the money.
This income will largely be liquidated over the next period in order to fund new facilities but this in turn will increase the commercial returns those facilities will be able to generate.
Cork GAA will outline plans to proceed with a €70 million redevelopment of Pairc Uí Caoimh in the coming years. It will stress that the cost of the development of the stadium and a GAA centre of excellence have never been lower and that now is the right time to move.
This news together with the investment plans for sport at the University of Limerick suggest that there is a new vibrancy around sport in the southern province.
The new facilities and the jobs they will create will hopefully serve to stem the flow of emigration from rural areas that has been a significant challenge to the survival of many smaller clubs and sporting organisations based outside of Dublin and the main centres of population.
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