There is often a period of painful adjustment before the public is prepared to accept the new names of venues that are valiantly rechristened in the wake of sponsorship deals.

It's fair to say that buy-in from the media can help, well, communicate the message. But for Independent News & Media, proud sponsors of the Cork home of Munster rugby, buy-in for its naming rights agreement with the redeveloped stadium has depended on the support of its direct rivals, and some appear to have been less enthusiastic than others.

After INM's annual general meeting in Dublin last week, the group's Corkonian chairman, Leslie Buckley, was asked by Newstalk business editor Vincent Wall if the acquisition-hunting media group would theoretically be interested in buying the Irish Examiner, given it seemed to be "aggressively chasing" the Cork market.

Press usage

“We’re aggressively chasing every market,” said Buckley. “You’re only just saying that [about Cork] because Musgrave Park has changed to Irish Independent Park. And it would be nice if the

Irish Examiner

called it Irish Independent Park, but anyway . . . Some day, maybe.”

Buckley, who posed with a spade and sod of Musgrave (sorry, Irish Independent) Park turf when the naming rights were announced back in March 2014, noted it had taken some time before people were willing to call the Aviva Stadium "the Aviva". Indeed. Sadly for INM, our Cork-hailing sources swear it will always be Musgrave Park to them.