By Liam Heylin
Thirst should be easily quenched in the new Páirc Uí Chaoimh, which is due to open to GAA fans next week.
GAA officials were at Cork Circuit Court yesterday to secure a seven-day pub licence for the venue.
That is parallel with the licence to sell drink the stadium already enjoys, because the new venue was designated a national sporting arena.
The newly rebuilt arena will have 18 outlets at various locations throughout the stadium, where fans will be able to buy a pint before, during, or after a match. That said, what they will not be permitted to do is to bring their alcohol to their seat or their spot on one of the terraces.
The licensing issue that was addressed yesterday was the renewal of the seven-day licence for the bar, formerly known as the Beamish Room.
Barrister James Duggan applied for that licence to be renewed and Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin granted the application.
There was no objector in court. The pub licence may be important, if an application is to be made in the future for a licence to cover an occasional event; for instance, if some kind of marquee was located in a carpark area.
The area to be covered by that particular licence was shown on the map of the stadium, outlined in red — as if it could be shown by any other colour.
Once the statutory proofs were in order and it was clear that the legal Hawkeye was coming up as “tá”, the atmosphere relaxed in Courtroom 2.
Judge Ó Donnabháin asked Mr Duggan BL, for the GAA: “You won’t be togging out yourself?” Mr Duggan suggested he would be happy to just get a ticket.
State solicitor, Frank Nyhan, then got involved in some ground hurling and showed his own colours, “They are very fortunate to have secured the services of the Tipperary team to open it.”
