Pairc Uí Chaoimh is the largest new build stadium to open in Ireland since the Aviva Stadium eight years ago and there will be as much written and said about the operation of the ground as the performance of the teams for this Sunday’s two All Ireland Hurling Quarter Finals on Leeside.
Wednesday night saw a crowd of over 10,000 turn up for the first game to be played there between Blarney and Valley Rovers. That number will rise to 45,000 on each of Saturday and Sunday with fans flooding in from East, West and North to see Clare take on Tipperary and then Wexford clash with Waterford.
Semple Stadium handled two similar big days last weekend but the main challenge over the coming days will be fans lack of familiarity with access and how to get around and about the stadium.
Stewards
There will be as many as 400 stewards in the ground and about 40 Stadium Ambassadors helping people with queries and to get to know the facility.
There were problems with queues and traffic on Wednesday but that was always likely and it is hoped that weekend traffic will not come up against the hit of evening rush hour that played a part in Wednesday’s complaints from bus operators and to the Gardaí.
Patrons are being asked to use City Centre car parks and walk out to the stadium where possible.
Curiosity should ensure that most fans are there in place on time though the staging of only one game and with it being all ‘away’ fans means there will also likely be a bigger ‘surge’ towards throw in time.
Common sense should see many building in extra time to get there and whatever emerges on Saturday will be improved for Sunday and subsequently for the many bigger games which will take place over the coming years.
Discussions
Cork County Board officials said during the week that discussions around naming rights for the new stadium were ongoing but had been put to one side in the run to getting the stadium operational and that is likely to be a story we will be covering over the coming months.
This weekend is part of the All Ireland series so the sponsors on site and visible around the ground will be Littlewoods Ireland, Bord Gais Energy and Centra. It is not yet known whether any of them will be activating around the ground but each of their teams will be there to savour what should be a special experience.
There are still tickets available for both days on the two terraces and in the premium area though the tickets.ie website states clearly that pre-purchase sales will end at midnight tonight for the Saturday game and Saturday for the Sunday game.
There were long queues at the ticket vans for Wednesday games and the suggestion was that there would likely be no tickets available on the day unless possibly through some of the Centra and Supervalu stores.
Surface
Players and Officials have all expressed themselves happy with the playing surface and the facilities.
Tipperary manager Michael Ryan got a close-up preview as part of a Bank of Ireland visit to the stadium this week. His ‘day job’ is as Head of Bank of Ireland in Tipperary and he was joined by a predecessor in the dugout Liam Sheedy who heads up the bank’s Munster operation.
Bank of Ireland was involved in financing some of the development of the new Pairc Uí Chaoimh.
“Bank of Ireland is delighted to be involved with the development of the new Páirc Uí Chaoimh which is a world-class stadium,” said William Madden of Bank of Ireland pictured below beside Sheedy on the right and Cork County Board Chairman Ger Lane in the middle.
“It promises to be a superb venue for sports and concert goers from Cork and the wider Munster community. Bank of Ireland has proactively played a long-standing role in supporting the business community across Munster.”
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