Sport

Analysis: SuperValu Pairc Uí Chaoimh debacle shows branding risk when commercialising culture

While the commercials of the deal are sold, the prospect of “SuperValu Pairc” became a PR crisis for Cork GAA

Cork’s Shane Barrett and Conor Shaw of Westmeath in action in Pairc UI Chaoimh. The famous Cork stadium may be renamed SuperValu Pairc in a naming rights deal

Dónal Ó Caoimh was looking forward to his holiday in Tenerife. As manager of a mental health facility, he was excited for some down-time during a hard-earned week in the sun.

Instead Ó Caoimh spent most of the week on the phone to journalists seeking his views on the proposed renaming of Cork GAA’s iconic stadium – a ground called after his grandfather Pádraig, an Irish soldier and former general secretary of the GAA.

“I ...