Cork County Board chairman Bob Ryan says the €70m redevelopment of Pairc Ui Chaoimh is "long overdue".

The redevelopment has been heavily criticised for some reason, but Ryan argues that Ireland's second-largest city deserves a GAA stadium to rival Croke Park:

"People have criticised the money given for the Páirc Uí Chaoimh redevelopment, but I would say it is long overdue," he told The Irish Examiner.

"Hundreds of millions of euro has been pumped into Dublin so why shouldn't Cork, the largest county and second largest city, also get a fair slice of the pie?

"We'd question why all the big games are just pencilled in for Dublin. Why should GAA supporters have to head to Dublin every year for these games when there will be a stadium in Cork capable of holding them? It is the same distance from Cork to Dublin as it is from Dublin to Cork. Why should Croke Park have a stranglehold on these games?

"In hurling particularly, we will be making a strong case to host the All-Ireland quarter-finals. The competing counties are traditionally Galway, Kilkenny and the Munster teams. Geographically, it would make a huge pile of sense to have these games in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. It would cut travel time. The newly refurbished Páirc Uí Chaoimh, we hope, will be a big player in housing the summer's biggest games.

"It will be at the Munster Council's discretion where finals are played, but we will be lobbying for more. It will depend on the pairing. In hurling, in the years we are not involved, we would be making a strong case they be played in Cork. In the league, we have a home and away agreement with Kilkenny for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. Indeed, we would make a strong case that more hurling league semis come to Páirc Uí Chaoimh." Tweet

Most Read Stories